Key information management device, key information management method, and computer readable medium storing key information management program

ABSTRACT

A key information management device includes a key information distribution unit configured to distribute, to a mobile terminal, key information for unlocking or activating a vehicle by the mobile terminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signal to the vehicle, and the key information distribution unit makes an authority regarding unlocking or activation of the vehicle, which is imparted to the key information, different according to the mobile terminal that is a distribution target.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/135,601, filed Sep. 19, 2018, which claims the disclosure of JapanesePatent Application No. 2017-205676 filed on Oct. 24, 2017, including thespecification, drawings and abstract are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a key information management device, akey information management method, and a computer readable mediumstoring a key information management program.

2. Description of Related Art

For example, a key information management system is disclosed in which,even when a master key is lost, key information transmitted from aserver is received by a mobile terminal and the mobile terminal can beused as an electronic key for unlocking or activating a vehicle (seeJapanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-118122 (JP2006-118122 A) or the like).

SUMMARY

However, a user of a mobile terminal that is a distribution target ofkey information (hereinafter simply referred to as a “distributiontarget”) may be an owner user of a vehicle or a user other than the userof the vehicle, such as a family member or a friend of the owner user.For example, there is a car sharing service (hereinafter referred to asa “C2C car sharing service”) of supporting rental of a car betweenindividuals (C2C: Consumer to Consumer), which is provided by keyinformation with which the vehicle can be unlocked and activated in atime-limited manner being distributed to a mobile terminal of a persontemporarily borrowing the vehicle in a time period in which the vehicleis not used by the user. For example, there is a delivery service inwhich a trunk (a luggage room) of the vehicle can be designated as aluggage delivery destination (hereinafter referred to as a “trunkdelivery service”), which is provided by distributing key informationwith which a door (for example, a trunk lid) through which the trunk ofthe vehicle is accessed can be unlocked in a time-limited manner to amobile terminal of a deliverer of a delivery company. Therefore, keyinformation with all authorities regarding unlocking of the doors of thevehicle and the activation of the vehicle is likely to be distributed toa mobile terminal of the third party other than the user of the vehicle,and there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of security of thevehicle.

The present disclosure provides a key information management device, akey information management method, and a computer readable mediumstoring a key information management program capable of improvingsecurity of a vehicle when key information is distributed to a mobileterminal of a third party other than a user of the vehicle.

A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a key informationmanagement device. The key information management device includes a keyinformation distribution unit that distributes, to a mobile terminal,key information for unlocking or activating a vehicle by the mobileterminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signal to thevehicle. The key information distribution unit makes an authorityregarding unlocking or activation of the vehicle, which is imparted tothe key information, different according to the mobile terminal that isa distribution target.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the keyinformation management device can make the authority regarding unlockingor activation of the vehicle imparted to the key information differentaccording to the mobile terminal that is a distribution target.Accordingly, by imparting an authority according to the distributiontarget, it is possible to improve the security of the vehicle.

In the key information management device according to the first aspectof the present disclosure, when the key information distribution unitdistributes the key information to the mobile terminal related to apredetermined service of using the vehicle, the key informationdistribution unit may make the authority regarding unlocking oractivation of the vehicle different according to content of thepredetermined service.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the vehicle isnot needed to be activated or solely some of the doors of the vehiclemay be unlocked according to content of the service, and the keyinformation management device can distribute the key information to themobile terminal according to the content of the service. Therefore, forexample, a situation in which the key information with unneededauthorities is distributed to the mobile terminal of the third party(for example, a borrower of the vehicle of the C2C car sharing serviceor a deliverer of the trunk delivery service) related to a service otherthan the user of the vehicle can be avoided. Therefore, the keyinformation management device can realize improvement of the security ofthe vehicle while maintaining the convenience of providing the service.

In the key information management device according to first aspect ofthe present disclosure, when the predetermined service is a car sharingservice for a general consumer by a company or a key sharing service inwhich a plurality of users including an owner user of the vehiclereceives the key information with the respective mobile terminals, thekey information distribution unit may distribute the key informationwith an authority with which all doors of the vehicle are unlocked andthe vehicle is activated, to the mobile terminal.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the keyinformation management device can specifically impart an authorityappropriate for the key information to be distributed to the mobileterminal of the borrower of the vehicle according to a car sharingservice for general consumers by a company (B2C: Business to Consumer)(hereinafter referred to as a “B2C car sharing service”). The keyinformation management device can specifically impart an authorityappropriate for the key information to be distributed to the mobileterminals of the respective regular users according to a sharing serviceof the key information (hereinafter referred to as a “key sharingservice”) in which a plurality of users including an owner user of thevehicle (for example, an owner user and a family member or a friend ofthe owner user) can receive the key information with the respectivemobile terminals.

In the key information management device according to first aspect ofthe present disclosure, when the predetermined service is a car sharingservice among individuals, the key information distribution unit maydistribute the key information with an authority with which solely adoor for getting on and off among all the doors of the vehicle isunlocked, to the mobile terminal.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, personal itemsof the owner user or the like is likely to be always kept in a luggageroom of the vehicle owned by an individual, and the key informationmanagement device can specifically impart an authority appropriate forthe key information to be distributed to the mobile terminal of theborrower of the vehicle according to the C2C car sharing service.

In the key information management device according to first aspect ofthe present disclosure, when the predetermined service is a deliveryservice in which a luggage room of the vehicle is designated as aluggage delivery destination, the key information distribution unit maydistribute the key information with an authority with which solely adoor through which the luggage room is accessed among all the doors ofthe vehicle is unlocked, to the mobile terminal.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, in the trunkdelivery service, it is sufficient that a door (for example, a trunklid) through which the luggage room is accessed can be unlocked, and thekey information management device can specifically impart an appropriatekey information according to the trunk delivery service.

In the key information management device according to first aspect ofthe present disclosure, when the predetermined service is a car sharingservice in which the inside of a cabin of the vehicle is used as a trunkroom, the key information distribution unit may distribute the keyinformation with an authority with which the vehicle is not activated,to the mobile terminal.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, in a carsharing service in which the inside of a cabin of the vehicle is used asa trunk room (hereinafter referred to as a “trunk sharing service”), theborrower does not need to cause the vehicle to travel, and the keyinformation management device can specifically impart an authorityappropriate for the key information to be distributed to the mobileterminal of the borrower according to the trunk sharing service.

In the key information management device according to first aspect ofthe present disclosure, when a user of the mobile terminal that is adistribution target is the user of the vehicle, the key informationdistribution unit may make an authority regarding unlocking oractivation of the vehicle, which is imparted to the key information,different according to whether the user is an owner user of the vehicleor a user other than the owner user of the vehicle.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, for example,the owner user may wish to limit an aspect in which the vehicle is usedby another user, and the key information management device can make theauthority of the key information to be distributed to the mobileterminal different between the owner user and a regular user other thanthe owner user.

In the key information management device according to first aspect ofthe present disclosure, when the user of the mobile terminal that is adistribution target is a user of the vehicle, the key informationdistribution unit may make an authority regarding sharing of the keyinformation with another mobile terminal, which is imparted to the keyinformation, different according to whether the user is an owner user ofthe vehicle or a user other than the owner user of the vehicle.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the keyinformation distribution unit can make the authority regarding sharingof the key information (for example, the number of times the keyinformation can be shared or the number of persons with which the keyinformation can be shared) different between the owner user of thevehicle and the user other than the owner user. Therefore, for example,the owner user may wish to limit unneeded spreading of the keyinformation by another user of the vehicle, and the key informationmanagement device can limit the authority regarding the sharing of thekey information to be distributed to the mobile terminal of the regularuser other than the owner user.

A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to a key informationmanagement method that is executed by a key information managementdevice. The key information management method includes distributing, toa mobile terminal, key information for unlocking or activating a vehicleby the mobile terminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signalto the vehicle. In the distributing of the key information, an authorityregarding unlocking or activation of the vehicle, which is imparted tothe key information, is made different according to the mobile terminalthat is a distribution target.

A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer readablemedium storing a key information management program. The key informationmanagement program causes an information processing device to execute akey information distribution step of distributing, to a mobile terminal,key information for unlocking or activating a vehicle by the mobileterminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signal to thevehicle. In the key information distribution step, an authorityregarding unlocking or activation of the vehicle, which is imparted tothe key information, is made different according to the mobile terminalthat is a distribution target.

According to the aspects of the present disclosure, it is possible toprovide the key information management device, the key informationmanagement method, and the computer readable medium storing the keyinformation management program capable of improving security of avehicle when key information is distributed to a mobile terminal of athird party other than a user of the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configurationof an authentication key management system;

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding locking and unlocking of a vehicle in the authentication keymanagement system;

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a key sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 4 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a trunk delivery service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 5 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a C2C car sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 6 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a B2C car sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of anauthentication key issuance process by a center server; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a table showing an example of a relationship betweencontent of various services and an authority regarding unlocking andactivation of the vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the disclosure will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

Overall Configuration of Key Information Management System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an overallconfiguration of a key information management system according to theembodiment.

An authentication key management system 1 includes a vehicle 10, amobile terminal 20, a center server 30, and a service management server40.

The vehicle 10 can perform wireless communication (hereinafter referredto as “near field communication”) with the mobile terminal 20 at arelatively short distance (a distance that allows communication betweenthe inside of a vehicle cabin and the outside of the vehicle cabin)according to a predetermined communication standard. The vehicle 10 is atarget on which locking and unlocking of doors and activation (ignitionon) of the vehicle 10 are performed based on transmission signals (anauthentication request, a locking request, and an unlocking request tobe described below) from the mobile terminal 20. The door of the vehicle10 may include not only a door for getting on and off, but also a doorfor a luggage (for example, a trunk lid or a back door. These arehereinafter collectively referred to as a “trunk door”) for accessing atrunk (a luggage room). The ignition on (IG-ON) of the vehicle 10 mayinclude ON of a power supply to an electric motor in the vehicle 10using the electric motor as a main power source, in addition to startupof an engine in the vehicle 10 using the engine as a main power source.Hereinafter, in the embodiment, description will be given on the premisethat the vehicle 10 includes an engine 117 to be described below as amain power source, the activation (IG-ON) of the vehicle 10 correspondsto startup of the engine 117, and stopping (IG-OFF) of the vehicle 10corresponds to stopping of the engine 117.

The vehicle 10 is communicably connected to the center server 30 over apredetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phone networkor an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations). The vehicle 10 transmits position information to thecenter server 30, as described below.

The vehicle 10 includes a vehicle 10A carried by an individual and avehicle 10B carried by a company providing a B2C car sharing service.

The mobile terminal 20 is communicably connected to the center server 30over a predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations). The mobile terminal 20 can unlock or lock the vehicle 10by acquiring authentication key information (an example of keyinformation. The authentication key information is hereinafter referredto as “authentication key”) distributed from the center server 30 andtransmitting the acquired authentication key to the vehicle 10 throughrelatively short distance wireless communication according to apredetermined manipulation of the user. The mobile terminal 20 may be,for example, a general-purpose mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tabletterminal. As will be described below, a predetermined applicationprogram (hereinafter referred to as a “key application”) installed inthe built-in processing device 23 is activated, and thereby, theabove-described function may be realized. The mobile terminal 20 may bea dedicated mobile terminal specialized for unlocking of the doors ofthe vehicle 10 and activation of the vehicle 10 by acquiring theauthentication key from the center server 30 and using the acquiredauthentication key. The mobile terminal 20 includes mobile terminals20Aa to 20Ad corresponding to the vehicle 10A and a mobile terminal 20Bcorresponding to the vehicle 10B.

The mobile terminal 20Aa is a mobile terminal carried by an owner(hereinafter referred to as an “owner user”) among regular users of thevehicle 10A (hereinafter referred to as “regular users”). The mobileterminal 20Aa may bidirectionally communicate with the mobile terminal20Ab through wireless communication at a relatively short distance.

The mobile terminal 20Ab is a mobile terminal carried by a regular userother than the owner user of the vehicle 10A (for example, including afamily member of the owner user and a close friend of the owner user.The regular user is hereinafter referred to as a “child user”).

The child user may include a user who does not drive the vehicle 10A ora user who cannot drive (for example, an owner user's child under 18years of age). This is because, for example, when solely a trunkdelivery service to be described below is used, the regular user doesnot need to drive the vehicle 10A.

The mobile terminal 20Ac is carried by a deliverer of a company thatprovides a trunk delivery service to be described below (hereinaftersimply referred to as a “delivery company”). The mobile terminal 20Ac iscommunicably connected to the center server 30 and a delivery managementserver 50 to be described below over a predetermined communicationnetwork (for example, a mobile phone network or an Internet network inwhich a plurality of base stations is terminations).

The mobile terminal 20Ad is a mobile terminal carried by a borrower ofthe vehicle 10A in a C2C car sharing service to be described below. Themobile terminal 20Ad is communicably connected to the center server 30and a C2C car sharing management server 70 to be described below overthe predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations).

The mobile terminal 20B is a mobile terminal carried by the borrower ofthe vehicle 10B in a B2C car sharing service to be described below. Themobile terminal 20B is communicably connected to the center server 30and a B2C car sharing management server 80 to be described below overthe predetermined communication network (for example, a mobile phonenetwork or an Internet network in which a plurality of base stations isterminations).

The center server 30 is communicably connected to the vehicle 10, themobile terminal 20, and the service management server 40.

The center server 30 (an example of a key information management device)manages issuance of an authentication key of the vehicle 10. Forexample, the center server 30 issues the authentication key according toa predetermined condition and distributes the authentication key to themobile terminal 20.

The center server 30 acquires position information of the vehicle 10from the vehicle 10. Accordingly, the center server 30 can recognize theposition of the vehicle 10.

The center server 30 operates the car sharing service for sharing thevehicle 10A among a plurality of regular users including the owner userof the vehicle 10A. Specifically, the center server 30 operates aservice for sharing the authentication key of the vehicle 10A that eachof a plurality of pre-registered regular users including the owner usercan acquire in the mobile terminal 20 of the regular user (the mobileterminals 20Aa and 20Ab) (a key sharing service).

The center server 30 performs a registration process (a use registrationprocess) of allowing the regular user of the vehicle 10A to use aservice for using the vehicle 10A (a key sharing service, a trunkdelivery service, a C2C car sharing service, or the like). Specifically,the center server 30 registers an authority to distribute theauthentication key to the predetermined mobile terminal 20 (hereinafterreferred to as an “authentication key arrangement authority”) by a keysharing management unit 327 or a service management server 40 to bedescribed below transmitting an authentication key arrangement requestto be described below in order for the regular user of the vehicle 10Ato use the service for using the vehicle 10A.

The center server 30 manages a use situation of the vehicle 10A througha plurality of services (that is, a plurality of companies) through atrunk delivery service, a C2C car sharing service, and the like to bedescribed below.

The service management server 40 operates and manages various servicesthat are provided using the vehicle 10. The service management server 40includes a delivery management server 50 and an electronic commerce (EC)server 60 corresponding to the trunk delivery service, a C2C car sharingmanagement server 70 corresponding to the C2C car sharing service, a B2Ccar sharing management server 80 corresponding to the B2C car sharingservice.

The trunk delivery service may include a delivery service in which aproduct ordered at an EC site to be described below is a deliverytarget, and a delivery service in which a product other than the productordered at the EC site is a delivery target. For example, the trunkdelivery service in which the product other than the product ordered atthe EC site is the delivery target is a service in which the regularuser of the vehicle 10A can change a delivery destination to the trunkof the vehicle 10A when there is a notification indicating that aluggage destined for home is scheduled to be delivered, from thedelivery management server 50 to the regular user of the vehicle 10Athrough an e-mail, an account of social networking service (SNS), or aspecific application program activated at mobile terminals 20Aa and20Ab. Hereinafter, in the embodiment, description will be given whilefocusing on the trunk delivery service in which the product ordered atthe EC site is the delivery target. An operation of each configurationrelated to the trunk delivery service to be described below can beappropriately applied to an operation of each configuration in the trunkdelivery service in which the product other than the product ordered atthe EC site is the delivery target.

The delivery management server 50 is communicably connected to themobile terminal 20Ac and the center server 30 over a predeterminedcommunication network, and performs an operation and management of adistribution system related to the trunk delivery service from receiptof the luggage to the delivery of the luggage to the trunk of thevehicle 10A.

The delivery company operating the delivery management server 50 mayprovide the regular user of the vehicle 10A with not only the trunkdelivery service but also a luggage collection service (hereinafterreferred to as a “trunk collection service”) in which the trunk can bedesignated as the luggage collection source. That is, the deliverymanagement server 50 may perform an operation and management of thetrunk collection service in place of the trunk delivery service or inaddition to the trunk delivery service. In the above-described case, theluggage that is a luggage collection target may be a product (that is, aproduct purchased at the EC site) returning to an operating company ofthe EC site corresponding to the EC server 60 (or a store opened at theEC site) or may be a luggage for delivery not related to the EC site.The trunk collection service may be realized as a collection servicewhen a company (for example, a company for cleaning) that provides aservice in a form of temporarily keeping products from a consumer keepsa luggage from the regular user of the vehicle 10A. In theabove-described case, a cleaning company or the like may provide acollection management server that operates and manages the trunkcollection service, which can be included in the service managementserver 40, as in the delivery management server 50. That is, thecollection management server may be provided, in place of the deliverymanagement server 50 or in addition to the delivery management server50. A recovery service in which the trunk can be designated as arecovery source of articles that are recovery targets (hereinafterreferred to as a “trunk recovery service”) may be provided to theregular user of the vehicle 10A by a company that provides a service ina form of recovering predetermined articles (articles such as waste or asecond-hand book desired to be purchased) from consumers (for example, awaste collection company or an antique purchase company). In theabove-described case, a recovery management server that operates andmanages the trunk recovery service, which may be included in the servicemanagement server 40, may be provided by a waste recovery company or thelike, similar to the delivery management server 50. That is, therecovery management server may be provided, in place of the deliverymanagement server 50 or in addition to the delivery management server50.

The EC server 60 is communicably connected to the center server 30 andthe delivery management server 50 over a predetermined communicationnetwork, and operates a predetermined website (an EC site) for sellingproducts or services. More specifically, the EC server 60 displays thetrunk of the vehicle 10A as an option of the delivery destination on anorder screen of the EC site, for regular users of the vehicle 10A and adelivery company (a delivery company corresponding to the deliverymanagement server 50) that have been registered in advance. Accordingly,the regular user of the vehicle 10A can have the purchased productdelivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A even when the regular user isabsent at home.

The C2C car sharing management server 70 is communicably connected tothe mobile terminal 20Ad and the center server 30, and performs anoperation and management of the C2C car sharing service such asreception of registration of a date and time when the vehicle 10A can belent by the owner user, reception of reservation of use from a personwho wants to borrow the vehicle 10A, and arrangement of theauthentication key of the vehicle 10A. The C2C car sharing managementserver 70 may operate and manage the C2C trunk sharing service in anaspect in which the inside of the cabin of the vehicle 10A of anindividual or the trunk thereof is lent as a temporary luggage storageplace, a luggage delivery destination, or the like.

The B2C car sharing management server 80 is communicably connected tothe mobile terminal 20B and the center server 30, and performs anoperation and management of the B2C car sharing service such asreception of reservation of use of the vehicle 10B, and arrangement of aparking position of the vehicle 10B and the authentication key of thevehicle 10B. The B2C car sharing management server 80 may operate andmanage the B2C trunk sharing service in an aspect in which the inside ofthe cabin of the vehicle 10B or the trunk is lent as a temporary luggagestorage space or a luggage delivery destination.

A company car use management server that operates a car sharing service(a company car use management service) in which an employee of a companyis a borrower, with the vehicle 10 as a company car of the company beinga reservation of use target, may be included in the service managementserver 40, instead of the B2C car sharing management server 80 or inaddition to the B2C car sharing management server 80. In theabove-described case, when there is an idle time period of the vehicle10, which is the company car, the C2C car sharing management server 70may operate the C2C car sharing service, with the vehicle 10 as acompany car being a borrowing target. The delivery management server 50and the EC server 60 may operate the trunk delivery service in which adelivery destination of a luggage to be delivered to a company can bedesignated as a trunk of the vehicle 10 that is a company car of thecompany.

Details of Configuration Regarding Locking, Unlocking, and Activation ofVehicle

A configuration regarding locking, unlocking, and activation of vehicle10 in the authentication key management system 1 will be described withreference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding locking, unlocking, and activation of the vehicle 10 in theauthentication key management system 1. The vehicle 10 includes alocking, unlocking and activation device 11, a key unit 12, a globalpositioning system (GPS) module 13, and a data communication module(DCM) 14.

The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 is attached to thevehicle 10 and performs unlocking and locking of the doors of thevehicle 10 according to a locking signal and an unlocking signal to betransmitted as radio waves in a radio frequency (RF) band (for example,300 MHz to 3 GHz) (hereinafter referred to as “RF radio waves”) from thekey unit 12. The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 activatesthe vehicle 10 according to exchange using radio waves in a lowfrequency (LF) band (for example, 30 Hz to 300 kHz) (hereinafterreferred to as “LF radio waves”) and RF radio waves with the key unitusing a pressing manipulation of an activation switch (not illustrated)provided in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 as a trigger. Thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 includes an LF radio wavetransmitter 111, an RF radio wave receiver 112, a collating electroniccontrol unit (ECU) 113, a body ECU 114, a door lock motor 115, an engineECU 116, and an engine 117 as a driving power source of the vehicle 10.

The locking, unlocking and activation device 11 operates with powersupplied from an auxiliary battery (not illustrated) mounted on thevehicle 10.

The LF radio wave transmitter 111 is embedded into, for example, acenter console or a door handle in the vehicle cabin, and transmits LFradio waves under the control of the collating ECU 113.

The RF radio wave receiver 112 is provided, for example, in a trim of aluggage room of the vehicle 10 and receives RF radio waves under thecontrol of the collating ECU 113.

The collating ECU 113 is an electronic control unit that controlslocking and unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10 and activation ofthe vehicle 10 based on exchange of signals with the key unit 12. Thecollating ECU 113 is realized by any hardware, any software, or acombination of any hardware and any software. For example, the collatingECU 113 is configured mainly of a microcomputer includes a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory(ROM), an auxiliary storage device, a real time clock (RTC), and acommunication interface. The collating ECU 113 realizes various controlprocesses by executing various programs stored in the ROM or theauxiliary storage device on the CPU. Hereinafter, the same applies tothe key ECU 124 to be described below.

The collating ECU 113 receives an unlocking signal and a locking signaltransmitted as RF radio waves from the key unit 12 using the RF radiowave receiver 112.

When the collating ECU 113 receives the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal, the collating ECU 113 performs authentication of a transmissionsource (the key unit 12) of the unlocking signal or the locking signalbased on key information included in the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal (hereinafter referred to as “internal key information”). Forexample, when the internal key information registered in an internalmemory such as an auxiliary storage device in advance matches theinternal key information included in the unlocking signal or the lockingsignal, the collating ECU 113 determines that the authentication issuccessful, and when the internal key information registered in theinternal memory such as the auxiliary storage device in advance does notmatch the internal key information included in the unlocking signal orthe locking signal, the collating ECU 113 determines that theauthentication fails.

For example, the collating ECU 113 may transmit LF radio waves includinga “challenge” created in a predetermined method using the internal keyinformation of the internal memory from the LF radio wave transmitter111 to the key unit 12 and perform challenge response authenticationbased on a “response” replied from the key unit 12, which is receivedfrom the RF radio wave receiver 112.

When the authentication is successful, the collating ECU 113 transmitsan unlocking command (upon reception of the unlocking signal) or alocking command (upon reception of the locking signal) to the body ECU114 via an in-vehicle network such as a controller area network (CAN).

As will be described below, in the unlocking signal, solely some of thedoors of the vehicle 10 may be designated as unlocked targets. In theabove-described case, the collating ECU 113 designates the door as anunlocked target in the unlocking command. Accordingly, the body ECU 114can operate solely the door lock motor 115 corresponding to somedesignated doors and unlock solely some doors.

When the above-described activation switch is pressed, the collating ECU113 performs authentication of the key unit 12 by exchanging signalswith the key unit 12 using the LF radio wave transmitter 111 and the RFradio wave receiver 112.

For example, the collating ECU 113 transmits a request signal in an LFband from the LF radio wave transmitter 111 to the key unit 12 torequest reply of the internal key information. When a response signalincluding the internal key information is received from the key unit 12by the RF radio wave receiver 112, the collating ECU 113 determinesauthentication success or authentication failure based on matchingbetween the internal key information registered in the internal memoryin advance and the internal key information included in the responsesignal, as in the case of locking and unlocking the doors.

For example, the collating ECU 113 may perform challenge responseauthentication, as in the case of locking and unlocking of doors.

When the authentication has succeeded, the collating ECU 113 transmits astartup command of the engine 117 to the engine ECU 116 through thein-vehicle network such as the CAN.

The body ECU 114 is an electronic control unit that performs operationcontrol of the door lock motor 115 that is communicably connected via aone-to-one communication line or the like. The body ECU 114 outputs acontrol command to cause the door lock motor 115 to perform an unlockingoperation according to the unlocking command from the collating ECU 113.The body ECU 114 outputs a control command to cause the door lock motor115 to perform a locking operation according to the locking command fromthe collating ECU 113.

The door lock motor 115 is a known electric actuator that unlocks andlocks the doors of the vehicle 10 according to the control command fromthe body ECU 114.

The engine ECU 116 is an electronic control unit that drives andcontrols the engine 117. Specifically, the engine ECU 116 drives andcontrols various actuators such as a starter or an injector, which aremounted on the engine 117. When the startup command is input from thecollating ECU 113, the engine ECU 116 outputs a control command tovarious actuators such as a starter or an injector of the engine 117 tostart up the engine 117.

The key unit 12 is disposed in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 andtransmits the unlocking signal and the locking signal as RF radio wavesto the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to of theunlocking request and the locking request transmitted from the mobileterminal 20. The key unit 12 performs exchange of signals with thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to the signal inthe LF band transmitted from the locking, unlocking and activationdevice 11 when the activation switch provided in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is pressed. The key unit 12 includes an LF radio wavereceiver 121, an RF radio wave transmitter 122, a communication device123, and a key ECU 124.

The key unit 12 may be disposed at a position (for example, a glove box,or the inside of a center console box) at which it is difficult forusers seated on respective seats of the vehicle 10 to visually recognizethe key unit 12. The key unit 12 may be fixed or may not be fixed to thevehicle 10. The key unit 12 may be operated by a built-in button batteryor the like or may be operated by power supplied from an auxiliarybattery mounted on the vehicle 10.

The LF radio wave receiver 121 receives the LF radio waves under thecontrol of the key ECU 124.

The RF radio wave transmitter 122 transmits RF radio waves under thecontrol of the key ECU 124.

The communication device 123 is any device that performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 20 under the control of the keyECU 124. The communication device 123 may be, for example, a BLEcommunication module that performs communication with the mobileterminal 20 in compliance with a Bluetooth (registered trademark) lowenergy (BLE) communication standard. Hereinafter, description will begiven on the premise that a communication standard adopted in thecommunication device 123 conforms to BLE communication.

The communication device 123 may be a communication device conforming toa short-range communication standard having a very short communicabledistance, such as a near field communication (NFC) standard. In theabove-described case, the communication device 123 may be built, forexample, at a position (for example, the inside of the door handle)close to a body surface of the vehicle 10 outside the vehicle cabin.Accordingly, the key unit 12 (the key ECU 124) can communicate with themobile terminal 20 outside the vehicle cabin even when the communicabledistance of the communication device 123 is very short.

The key ECU 124 is an electronic control unit that performs a controlprocess of transmitting a locking signal and an unlocking signal to thelocking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to the unlockingrequest and the locking request received from the mobile terminal 20.

The key ECU 124 receives an authentication request including anauthentication key associated with the key unit 12 from the mobileterminal 20 via the communication device 123.

When the authentication request including the authentication keyassociated with the key unit 12 is received from the mobile terminal 20,the key ECU 124 performs authentication of the mobile terminal 20 basedon the authentication key. When the authentication has been successful,the key ECU 124 restores the internal key information stored in aninternal memory such as an auxiliary storage device to a usable state.The internal key information is stored in a state that the internal keyinformation cannot be used for authentication in the locking, unlockingand activation device 11, for example, due to a state in which theinternal key information is not accessible or a state in which theinternal key information has been encrypted. Therefore, when theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 has been successful, the keyECU 124, for example, performs changing of an authority to access theinternal memory for changing the key information to an accessible state,or decodes an encrypted internal key information based on theauthentication key. Accordingly, the key ECU 124 can access the internalkey information which is not normally accessible to transmit anunlocking signal or a locking signal including the internal keyinformation to the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 ortransmit an unlocking signal or a locking signal including decodedinternal key information to the locking, unlocking and activation device11. Therefore, the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 canperform appropriate authentication based on the internal key informationincluded in the unlocking signal and the locking signal. Even when asituation in which a malicious third party illegally obtains the keyunit 12 occurs, the internal key information in the key unit 12, forexample, is not accessible or is encrypted, occurrence of theft of thevehicle 10 can be suppressed.

The key ECU 124 receives the unlocking request and the locking requestfrom the mobile terminal 20 via the communication device 123. When theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 is successful (specifically, astate in which the BLE communication has been established is kept afterthe authentication of the mobile terminal 20 has been successful) andthe key ECU 124 has received the unlocking request or the lockingrequest from the mobile terminal 20, the key ECU 124 transmits theunlocking signal or the locking signal including locking and unlockingkey information to the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 viathe RF radio wave transmitter 122.

Accordingly, unlocking or locking of the doors of the vehicle 10 isrealized after an authentication process in the locking, unlocking andactivation device 11.

As described above, the key ECU 124 performs exchange of signals withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to a signal inthe LF band transmitted from the locking, unlocking and activationdevice 11 when the activation switch provided in the vehicle cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is pressed.

For example, when the request signal is received from the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 by the LF radio wave receiver 121,the key ECU 124 transmits a response signal including the internal keyinformation stored in the internal memory or the like to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 via the RF radio wave transmitter122.

For example, when the LF radio waves including the “challenge” arereceived from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 by the LFradio wave receiver 121, the key ECU 124 generates a “response” based onthe internal key information and transmits the response to the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 via the RF radio wave transmitter122.

Accordingly, after the authentication process in the locking, unlockingand activation device 11, the startup of the engine 117 is realized.

An authority regarding a function of locking, unlocking, or activatingthe vehicle 10 imparted by the center server 30 may be defined in theauthentication key.

For example, when the authentication key has solely the authority tounlock some of the doors of the vehicle 10, the key ECU 124 transmits anunlocking signal including information for designating the door to beunlocked to the key unit 12 via the RF radio wave transmitter 122.Accordingly, solely some of the doors of the vehicle 10 can be unlockedas described above.

For example, when the authentication key does not have the authority toactivate the engine 117, the key ECU 124 may not perform exchange withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 even when the signal inthe LF band from the locking, unlocking and activation device 11 basedon a pressing manipulation of the activation switch is received by theLF radio wave receiver 121. Accordingly, it is possible to prohibit theactivation of the engine 117 according to the authority of theauthentication key.

The GPS module 13 receives GPS signals transmitted from three or moresatellites and, preferably, four or more satellites over the vehicle 10,and measures a position of the vehicle 10. The GPS module 13 iscommunicably connected to the DCM 14 or the like via a one-to-onecommunication line or an in-vehicle network such as a CAN, and themeasured position information of the vehicle 10 is input to the DCM 14or the like.

The DCM 14 is a communication device that bidirectionally communicateswith the center server 30 over a predetermined communication network.The DCM 14 transmits current position information of the vehicle 10input from the GPS module 13 to the center server 30 at a predefinedtiming or according to a request from the center server 30, or the like.The DCM 14 transmits, to the center server 30, various types of vehicleinformation (for example, information indicating that unlocking of thedoor of the vehicle 10 or activation of the vehicle 10 is performedbased on the authentication key) that can be acquired over an in-vehiclenetwork such as a CAN at a predefined timing or according to a requestfrom the center server 30 or the like.

The mobile terminal 20 includes a communication device 21, acommunication device 22, a processing device 23, and a touch paneldisplay (hereinafter simply referred to as a “display”) 24.

The communication device 21 is any device that performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 20 according to the samecommunication standard as that of the communication device 123. Asdescribed above, in the case of the embodiment, the communication device21 is, for example, a BLE communication module.

The communication device 22 is any device that communicates with thecenter server 30, the service management server 40, or the like over apredetermined communication network. The communication device 22 is amobile communication module corresponding to a communication standardsuch as Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4th Generation (4G), or 5thGeneration (5G).

The processing device 23 performs various control processes in themobile terminal 20. The functions of the processing device 23 may berealized by any hardware, any software, or a combination of any hardwareand any software, and includes for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, anauxiliary storage device, an RTC, and various interfaces forcommunication. The processing device 23 includes, for example, acommunication processing unit 231, a communication processing unit 232,an authentication key acquisition unit 233, an authentication requestunit 234, and a locking and unlocking request unit 235 as functionalunits that are realized by executing one or more programs stored in theROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. The processing device 23includes, for example, a storage unit 230 that is realized as a storagearea in the auxiliary storage device, and a process of storing variouspieces of data in the storage unit 230 is realized by a predeterminedprogram stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device.

The communication processing unit 231 performs bidirectional near fieldcommunication with the key unit 12 using the communication device 21 andperforms transmission and reception of various signals.

The communication processing unit 232 connects to the predeterminedcommunication network using the communication device 22 and transmitsand receives various signals such as a data signal or a control signalto and from the center server 30, the service management server 40, andthe like.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 acquires the authenticationkey from the center server 30, for example, according to a predeterminedmanipulation of the user with respect to a predetermined graphical userinterface (GUI) displayed on the display 24, and stores the acquiredauthentication key in the storage unit 230. Hereinafter, the descriptionwill be given on the premise that various manipulations with respect tothe mobile terminal 20 are performed by a manipulation with respect tothe GUI displayed on the display 24 in conjunction with the operation ofthe key application.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobileterminal 20Aa transmits an authentication key acquisition request to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 232. Accordingly,the center server 30 receives the authentication key acquisitionrequest, and issues the authentication key when the center server 30determines that the authentication key acquisition request is a regularauthentication key acquisition request. The authentication keyacquisition unit 233 acquires the authentication key distributed fromthe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobileterminal 20Ab acquires the authentication key distributed from thecenter server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ab via the communicationprocessing unit 232 according to a key sharing request (to be describedbelow) transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aa to the center server30.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal 20Abmay transmit the authentication key acquisition request by itself to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 232. In theabove-described case, when the center server 30 receives theauthentication key acquisition request from the mobile terminal 20Ab,the center server 30 may perform an inquiry about whether or not topermit distribution of the authentication key to the mobile terminal20Aa of the owner user.

For example, the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of each of themobile terminals 20Ac, 20Ad, and 20B transmits an authentication keyacquisition request to the delivery management server 50, the C2C carsharing management server 70, and the B2C car sharing management server80 to request acquisition of the authentication key. Accordingly, thedelivery management server 50, the C2C car sharing management server 70,and the B2C car sharing management server 80 transmit an authenticationkey arrangement request to the center server 30 according to receptionof the authentication key acquisition request, and the center server 30issues the authentication key according to receipt of the authenticationkey arrangement request. The authentication key acquisition unit 233acquires an authentication key that is distributed from the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminals20Ac, 20Ad, and 20B may transmit the authentication key acquisitionrequest to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit232. In the above-described case, the center server 30 may perform aninquiry of the delivery management server 50, the C2C car sharingmanagement server 70, and the B2C car sharing management server 80 todetermine whether or not the authentication key acquisition request is aregular authentication key acquisition request.

The authentication request unit 234 transmits an authentication requestto the key unit 12 of the vehicle 10 via the communication processingunit 231 to request authentication of the mobile terminal 20 serving asa remote manipulation unit for locking and unlocking the doors of thevehicle 10. For example, when the authentication request unit 234 findsa key unit corresponding to the authentication key, and specifically,when an advertising packet corresponding to the key unit 12 is receivedby the communication processing unit 231, the authentication requestunit 234 may transmit the authentication request to the key unit 12. Forexample, the authentication request unit 234 may transmit theauthentication request to the key unit 12 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the user.

The locking and unlocking request unit 235 transmits an unlockingrequest including an authentication key or a locking request includingthe authentication key to the key unit 12 via the communicationprocessing unit 231 according to the predetermined manipulation by theuser. Accordingly, even when the unlocking request or the lockingrequest has been transmitted to the key unit 12 before theauthentication request is transmitted by the authentication request unit234, locking and unlocking of the door of the vehicle 10 based on theauthentication process in the key unit 12 can be realized. For example,an unlocking button for requesting unlocking of the vehicle 10 and alocking button for requesting locking of the vehicle 10 may be drawn ina GUI serving as a manipulation screen of the display 24, a lockingrequest may be transmitted when the locking button is touched, and anunlocking request may be transmitted when the unlocking button istouched. The locking request and the unlocking request may betransmitted by a manipulation with respect to a predeterminedmanipulation unit by hardware provided in the mobile terminal 20.

For example, the functions of the authentication key acquisition unit233, the authentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlockingrequest unit 235 may be available to the user by a predeterminedapplication program installed in the ROM of the processing device 23,the auxiliary storage device, or the like being activated. Hereinafter,the description will be given on the premise that the functions of theauthentication key acquisition unit 233, the authentication request unit234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235 of the processingdevice 23 are available to the user by the key application alreadyinstalled in the processing device 23 (the auxiliary storage device orthe ROM) being activated.

The center server 30 includes a communication device 31 and a processingdevice 32.

The functions of the center server 30 may be shared and realized by aplurality of servers. Hereinafter, the same applies to the deliverymanagement server 50, the EC server 60, the C2C car sharing managementserver 70, and the B2C car sharing management server 80.

The communication device 31 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the vehicle 10, the mobile terminal 20, andthe service management server 40 over a predetermined communicationnetwork.

The processing device 32 (an example of the information processingdevice) performs various control processes in the center server 30. Thefunctions of the processing device 32 may be realized by any hardware,any software, or a combination of any hardware and any software, and theprocessing device 32 is mainly configured of one or a plurality ofserver computers including, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, anauxiliary storage device, an RTC, and a predetermined communicationinterface. Hereinafter, the same applies to processing devices 52, 62,72, 82 to be described below of the delivery management server 50, theEC server 60, the C2C car sharing management server 70, and the B2C carsharing management server 80. The processing device 32 includes, forexample, a communication processing unit 321, a condition determinationunit 322, and an authentication key issuance unit 323 as functionalunits that are realized by executing one or more programs stored in theROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. The processing device 32includes, for example, a storage unit 320 that is realized as a storagearea defined in an auxiliary storage device of a server computer or anexternal storage device connected to the server computer, and a processin which various pieces of data are stored in the storage unit 320 isrealized by a program stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device.Hereinafter, the same applies to the storage units 520, 620, 720, and820 to be described below.

The communication processing unit 321 controls the communication device31 to perform exchange of various signals such as control signals andinformation signals with the vehicle 10, the mobile terminal 20, and theservice management server 40.

The condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request according toreception of an authentication key acquisition request from the mobileterminal 20 or an authentication key arrangement request from theservice management server 40 received by the communication processingunit 321.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines that theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is the regular one, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 (an example of the key information distribution unit) specifiesa specification of the authentication key to be issued and issues anauthentication key corresponding to the specified specification. Forexample, the authentication key issuance unit 323 specifies the vehicle10 that is a target of locking or unlocking using the authentication keyor the key unit 12 corresponding to the vehicle 10. For example, theauthentication key issuance unit 323 specifies the authority of theauthentication key regarding a period of time in which theauthentication key is valid (available) and the number of times theauthentication key is available. For example, the authentication keyissuance unit 323 specifies the authority of the authentication keyregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10, such aslockable or unlockable doors and whether or not the vehicle 10 can beactivated. For example, the authentication key issuance unit 323specifies the authority of the authentication key regarding thetemporary key sharing, such as whether or not the authentication key canbe shared with another mobile terminal 20 through a temporary keysharing to be described below, a period of time in which theauthentication key can be shared with the other mobile terminal 20, andthe number of times the authentication key can be shared with the othermobile terminal 20. Details of a method of specifying variousauthorities in the authentication key issuance unit 323 will bedescribed below (see FIGS. 7 and 8). Hereinafter, the authority of theauthentication key regarding the period of time in which theauthentication key is available, the number of times the authenticationkey is available, and the like, the authority of the authentication keyregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10, and theauthority of the authentication key regarding the temporary key sharingare collectively simply referred to as “various authorities of theauthentication key”. The authentication key issuance unit 323distributes the authentication key issued to the mobile terminal 20 thatis a target via the communication processing unit 321.

Details of Configuration Regarding Key Sharing Service

A configuration regarding the key sharing service in the authenticationkey management system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding the key sharing service in the authentication key managementsystem 1. Hereinafter, a configuration regarding the key sharing servicein the authentication key management system 1 will be mainly describedwith reference to FIG. 3, and duplicate description on the configurationoverlapping the configuration regarding locking, unlocking, andactivation of the vehicle 10 described above will be omitted as much aspossible. Hereinafter, the same applies to description of FIGS. 4 to 6.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit231, the communication processing unit 232, the authentication keyacquisition unit 233, the authentication request unit 234, and thelocking and unlocking request unit 235, as described above. Theprocessing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa further includes a userregistration request unit 236, a service use registration request unit237, a service use situation request unit 238, and a key sharing requestunit 239.

In the embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the user registration request unit 236, the service useregistration request unit 237, the service use situation request unit238, and the key sharing request unit 239 of the mobile terminal 20Aaare available to the owner user by the key application being activatedand the user authentication based on bidirectional communication withthe center server 30 being successful. The description will be given onthe premise that the user authentication is performed by the centerserver 30 based on an identification (ID) defined for the owner user(hereinafter referred to as “owner user ID”) in advance and a passwordcorresponding to the owner user ID.

The user registration request unit 236 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user of the vehicle 10A that uses various services(the key sharing service, the trunk delivery service, the C2C carsharing service, and the like) for using the vehicle 10A, according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. For example, the userregistration request unit 236 transmits a user registration requestincluding an owner user ID and a password and attribute information (forexample, a name, age, and relationship with the owner user) forspecifying a child user who is a registration target to the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

When a notification indicating that registration of the child user hasbeen completed (user registration completion notification) is receivedfrom the center server 30 by the communication processing unit 232, theuser registration request unit 236 stores an ID (hereinafter referred toas a “child user ID”) and a password of the child user included in theuser registration completion notification in the storage unit 230. Inthe above-described case, the user registration request unit 236 maytransmit the child user ID and the password to the mobile terminal 20Abcarried by the registered child user via the communication processingunit 231 according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user.

The service use registration request unit 237 requests the center server30 to perform registration of use of various services for using thevehicle 10A by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. That is, the service useregistration request unit 237 requests registration of theauthentication key arrangement authority of the key sharing managementunit 327 or the service management server 40 corresponding to variousservices for allowing regular users of the vehicle 10A to use variousservices, as described above. For example, the service use registrationrequest unit 237 transmits a service use registration request includingthe owner user ID and the password, the information for specifying thevehicle 10A to be used for various services, the information forspecifying the service that is a target, and the ID of the regular userwho uses the target service (the owner user ID or the child user ID) tothe center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232.Hereinafter, the owner user ID and the child user ID may be collectivelyreferred to as a “regular user ID”. Accordingly, the service useregistration request unit 237 can register a child user who use the keysharing service in the center server 30.

The service use registration request unit 237 receives a notificationthat the use registration of the service based on the service useregistration request has been completed from at least one of the centerserver 30 and the service management server 40 through the communicationprocessing unit 232. The service use registration request unit 237causes the display 24 to display an indication that the use registrationof the specific service by the regular user of the vehicle 10A based onthe predetermined manipulation by the owner user has been completed.Accordingly, the owner user can recognize that the use registration ofthe specific service by the regular user has been completed.

The service use situation request unit 238 requests the center server 30to provide information on the use situation of various services (serviceuse situation information) including the key sharing service by theregular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration has beencompleted in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user. For example, the serviceuse situation request unit 238 transmits a service use situation requestincluding the owner user ID and the password to the center server 30 viathe communication processing unit 232. When the service use situationinformation received from the center server 30 by the communicationprocessing unit 232 is received, the service use situation request unit238 displays the service use situation information on the display 24.Accordingly, the owner user can centrally recognize the information onthe use situation of each service by each of the regular usersregistered for use in the center server 30 in an aspect in which theinformation is linked to the owner user ID.

The key sharing request unit 239 requests the center server 30 todistribute the authentication key for performing locking, unlocking oractivating of the vehicle 10A to the child user registered for use inthe key sharing service according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user. For example, the key sharing request unit 239 transmits akey sharing request including an owner user ID and a password,information on the vehicle 10A that is a locking and unlocking target bythe authentication key, and information (for example, a child user ID)on the child user that is a distribution (share) target of theauthentication key to the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 232. When the key sharing request unit 239 transmits thekey sharing request, use period information (for example, a date andtime of use start and a date and time of use end) regarding a period oftime in which the authentication key set and distributed by apredetermined manipulation by the owner user is available may beincluded in the key sharing request. The key sharing request may includeauthority information on various authorities of the authentication key,such as an authority of the authentication key regarding a period oftime in which the authentication key is available or the number of timesthe authentication key is available, an authority of the authenticationkey regarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle, and anauthority of the authentication key regarding temporary key sharing tobe described below, which can be designated according to thepredetermined manipulation by the owner user. Accordingly, as describedabove, when the authentication key available at the same time is sharedamong the mobile terminals 20, the owner user can appropriately setauthority information such that use of the vehicle 10A by a user otherthan the owner user can be limited. Therefore, security of the vehicle10A can be improved.

The key sharing request unit 239 may set the mobile terminals 20 (thatis, at least one of the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab) of a pluralityof regular users of the vehicle 10A as distribution targets and requestthe center server 30 to distribute the authentication key of which theperiods of time in which the authentication key is available overlapaccording to the predetermined manipulation by the owner user. That is,in the key sharing request, the regular users that are authenticationkey distribution targets may be designated, or the owner users may beincluded among the regular users. In the key sharing request, the periodof time in which the authentication key is available for each of thedesignated regular users may overlap. Accordingly, the authenticationkey of the vehicle 10A available at the same time can be shared by theregular users. Therefore, for example, when a plurality of persons getson the vehicle 10A together and go out for travel, camp, or the like,each of passengers can lock or unlock the vehicle 10A without lendingand borrowing the mobile terminal 20 in which the authentication key hasbeen stored, and therefore, convenience for users can be improved.

Even when the key sharing request unit 239 may share the distributedauthentication key with another mobile terminal 20 (that is, the mobileterminal 20 in which the key application is installed) according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user (hereinafter, a sharingaspect of the authentication key will be referred to as “temporary keysharing”). In the above-described case, the other mobile terminal 20 maybe the mobile terminal 20Ab of the child user or may be the mobileterminal 20 of a user other than the child user, that is, a usertemporarily using the vehicle 10A.

For example, the key sharing request unit 239 transmits theauthentication key (more specifically, a copy of the authentication key)to another mobile terminal 20 via the communication processing unit 231.Accordingly, the owner user of the vehicle 10A can share theauthentication key with the other user even when a plurality of personssuddenly get on the vehicle 10A together and go out for traveling or thelike. It is possible to share the authentication key available at thesame time to the other mobile terminal 20 directly from the mobileterminal 20Aa. Accordingly, for example, even when the mobile terminal20Aa is at a place at which a communication situation in a wirelessmobile communication network is poor or out of a communication range,the owner user of the vehicle 10A can share the authentication key withthe other user.

In the above-described case, the key sharing request unit 239 maytransmit the authentication key of which the authority regarding theperiod of time in which the authentication key is available or thenumber of times the authentication key is available or the authorityregarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10A, which is setbased on the predetermined manipulation by the owner user or which isdefined in advance, has been restricted, to the other mobile terminal 20via the communication processing unit 231. Specifically, for example, anauthentication key with an authority to limit the period of time inwhich the authentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is available to, for example, 30 minutes or once, oran authentication key with an authority, for example, solely to lock andunlock doors for getting on and off the vehicle 10A or prohibitactivation of the vehicle 10A may be transmitted to another mobileterminal 20. Hereinafter, the same applies to the case of temporary keysharing that is performed via the center server 30. Accordingly,security of the vehicle 10A due to the temporary key sharing can beimproved.

When the temporary key sharing is performed, the key sharing requestunit 239 may cause the authentication key to be distributed from thecenter server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20, as in the case of anormal key sharing. In the above-described case, the key sharing requestunit 239 may transmit a temporary key sharing request includinginformation (for example, an issued ID embedded in the authenticationkey) for specifying the distributed authentication key and informationfor designating the other mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget to the center server 30 via the communication processing unit232, to cause the authentication key of the vehicle 10A to be distributefrom the center server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20.

For example, when the other mobile terminal 20 is the mobile terminal20Ab of the child user, the key sharing request unit 239 may transmit atemporary key sharing request including the child user ID to the centerserver 30 via the communication processing unit 232.

For example, the key sharing request unit 239 acquires predeterminedidentification information (for example, a quick response (QR) code(registered trademark) corresponding to the user of another mobileterminal 20 registered as a user installing the key application in thecenter server 30) from the other mobile terminal 20 via thecommunication processing unit 231. The key sharing request unit 239 maytransmit a temporary key sharing request for designating another mobileterminal 20 specified based on the identification information as adistribution target, to the center server 30.

The mobile terminal 20Aa may acquire the identification informationusing another method. For example, the mobile terminal 20Aa may acquireidentification information corresponding to the user of the other mobileterminal 20 in an aspect in which the identification informationdisplayed on the display 24 of the other mobile terminal 20 isrecognized using a mounted camera function. For example, the mobileterminal 20Aa may acquire the identification information transmittedfrom the user of the other mobile terminal 20 to a mail address or anaccount of an SNS of the owner user.

For example, according to a predetermined manipulation by the owneruser, the key sharing request unit 239 transmits a candidate terminalinformation request for requesting a candidate terminal information on acandidate terminal that is a candidate for the other mobile terminal 20present around a current position of the mobile terminal 20Aa to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 232. When thecandidate terminal information is received from the center server 30 bythe communication processing unit 232, the key sharing request unit 239causes the display 24 to display the candidate terminal information.When the candidate terminal information is displayed on the display 24,information for specifying a candidate terminal in which a specificmanipulation or operation is performed among candidate terminals may beincluded in the candidate terminal information replied from the centerserver 30. Accordingly, the owner user of the vehicle 10A can specifyanother mobile terminal 20 from among the candidate terminals displayedon the display 24 of the mobile terminal 20Aa by the user of the othermobile terminal 20 as a key sharing target performing a specificmanipulation or operation with respect to the mobile terminal 20. Thekey sharing request unit 239 may transmit a temporary key sharingrequest for designating the other mobile terminal 20 specified fromamong the candidate terminals as a distribution target to the centerserver 30, according to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user.

The key sharing request unit 239 may activate the key applicationaccording to a predetermined manipulation by the owner user to transmitlink information according to a uniform resource locator (URL) schemefor allowing the other mobile terminal 20 to acquire the authenticationkey from the center server 30 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “linkinformation”) to a mail address or an account of an SNS of the user ofthe other mobile terminal 20 via the communication processing unit 232.In the above-described case, the key sharing request unit 239 transmitsa temporary key sharing request for designating the acquiredauthentication key to the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 232 according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user, and acquires the link information replied from the centerserver 30 according to the temporary key sharing request. Accordingly,the key sharing request unit 239 can cause the authentication key to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the other mobile terminal 20.

The temporary key sharing can be executed from the mobile terminal 20Abof the child user to which the authentication key has already beendistributed. That is, a function regarding the temporary key sharing inthe key sharing request unit 239 may be included in a function of thekey application that is installed in the processing device 23 of themobile terminal 20Ab of the child user. Accordingly, it is not needed tolend and borrow the mobile terminal 20Ab of the child user who hasacquired the authentication key even when a plurality of personsincluding no owner user get on the vehicle 10A together, and conveniencefor the child user of the vehicle 10A can be further improved.Hereinafter, description will be given on the premise that the temporarykey sharing can be performed from the mobile terminal 20Ab of the childuser.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, and the storage unit 320, asdescribed above. The processing device 32 of the center server 30further includes a position information management unit 324, a schedulemanagement unit 325, a registration management unit 326, and a keysharing management unit 327.

When the authentication key acquisition request has been received fromthe mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab by the communication processing unit321, the condition determination unit 322 performs authentication basedon the regular user ID and the password included in the authenticationkey acquisition request. For example, the condition determination unit322 collates the regular user ID and password registered in the storageunit 320 with the regular user ID and password included in theauthentication key acquisition request, and determines that theauthentication is successful, that is, the authentication keyacquisition request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestwhen both match.

The condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request sent from the key sharingmanagement unit 327 to be described below is a regular authenticationkey arrangement request. For example, when the authentication issuccessful based on authentication information (for example, the ID andthe password) included in the authentication key arrangement requestfrom the key sharing management unit 327, the condition determinationunit 322 may determine that the authentication key arrangement requestis a regular authentication key arrangement request.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines that theauthentication key acquisition request or the authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request, the authenticationkey issuance unit 323 issues the authentication key and distributes theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20 via the communicationprocessing unit 321.

The position information management unit 324 acquires the positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit321 and monitors the position information of the vehicle 10A in realtime to recognize a movement situation of the vehicle 10A. Accordingly,for example, the position information management unit 324 can notify theowner user of the position information of the vehicle 10A lent to thechild user via the communication processing unit 321. For example, theposition information management unit 324 can notify the mobile terminal20Ab of the child user of information such as whether or not the vehicle10A scheduled to be lent to the child user is directed to a designatedposition (for example, home) or a reference for returning, via thecommunication processing unit 321.

The schedule management unit 325 manages the use situation of thevehicle 10A regarding various services. For example, the schedulemanagement unit 325 periodically acquires a use schedule of the vehicle10 by the key sharing service and, specifically, information on a dateand time on which the authentication key distributed by the key sharingservice is available, from the key sharing management unit 327. Theschedule management unit 325 acquires the use schedule of the vehicle10A by each of the trunk delivery service and the C2C car sharingservice from the delivery management server 50 and the C2C car sharingmanagement server 70 via the communication processing unit 321. Theschedule management unit 325 generates information on the use scheduleof the vehicle 10A (vehicle use schedule information) over a pluralityof services based on the acquired use schedule of the vehicle 10Aregarding the various services, and updates the vehicle use scheduleinformation stored in the storage unit 320.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of theregular user (the child user) who uses various services according to theuser registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of theowner user by the communication processing unit 321. For example, theregistration management unit 326 collates the owner user ID and passwordincluded in the user registration request from the mobile terminal 20Aawith the owner user ID and password stored in the storage unit 320, anddetermines that the user registration request is a regular userregistration request when both match. That is, the registrationmanagement unit 326 determines that the authentication is successful.The registration management unit 326 registers the child user IDincluded in the regular user registration request in a user serviceregistration information database (DB) in the storage unit 320 as theregular user who can use various services.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of use ofvarious services by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to theservice use registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aaof the owner user by the communication processing unit 321. That is,according to the service use registration request, the registrationmanagement unit 326 performs registration of an authentication keyarrangement authority of the key sharing management unit 327 or theservice management server 40 corresponding to various services to allowthe user of the vehicle 10A to use various services. For example, theregistration management unit 326 performs the same authenticationprocess as described above based on the owner user ID and the passwordincluded in the service use registration request from the mobileterminal 20Aa to determine whether the service use registration requestis a regular service use registration request. When the service useregistration request is a regular service use registration request, theregistration management unit 326 determines whether or not the regularuser ID included in the service use registration request has alreadybeen registered in the user service registration information DB. Whenthe regular user ID included in the service use registration request hasalready been registered in the user service registration information DB,the registration management unit 326 registers the service of a targetspecified by the service use registration request in the user serviceregistration information database (DB) in the storage unit 320 as aservice available to the regular user corresponding to the regular userID.

Specifically, the registration management unit 326 constructs a userservice registration information DB in an aspect in whichservice-specific information for specifying a target service,vehicle-specific information for specifying the vehicle 10A, a regularuser ID for specifying a regular user who uses the service, and servicelink information in which the vehicle-specific information correspondingto the vehicle 10A and the regular user ID are associated with thetarget service is linked to the owner user ID.

The service-specific information is, for example, a service ID that isdefined for each service. Specifically, for example, when there is aplurality of companies providing the C2C car sharing service, a uniqueservice ID is defined for each of the companies. For example, when thesame company provides a plurality of C2C car sharing services, a uniqueID is defined for each of the services provided by the same company.When a trunk delivery service is provided by a combination of aplurality of delivery companies and a plurality of EC companies, aunique service ID may be defined for each combination of the deliverycompany and the EC company, and the target service may be specified by acombination of the unique service ID defined for each of the deliverycompanies and a unique service ID defined for each of the EC companies.

The vehicle-specific information may be any information as long as theinformation is able to specify the vehicle 10A that is a target oflocking, unlocking, or activation using the authentication key. Forexample, the vehicle-specific information may be identificationinformation such as a vehicle ID or a vehicle identification number(VIN), which is defined for each vehicle 10A. For example, thevehicle-specific information may be identification information such as akey unit ID, which is defined for each in-vehicle device related tolocking, unlocking, or activation of the doors based on theauthentication key mounted on the vehicle 10A such as the key unit 12.Hereinafter, description will be given on the premise that thevehicle-specific information is the key unit ID.

The service link information is information needed for the key sharingmanagement unit 327, the delivery management server 50, the EC server60, and the C2C car sharing management server 70 managing variousservices to transmit the authentication key arrangement request tothereby cause the authentication key issuance unit 323 to issue theauthentication key and distribute the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20 that is a target. That is, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 can specify the vehicle 10A that is a target of locking,unlocking, or activation using the authentication key and issue anappropriate authentication key by receiving the authentication keyarrangement request including the service link information from the keysharing management unit 327, the delivery management server 50, the ECserver 60, and the C2C car sharing management server 70.

The service link information may be any information as long as thetarget service is associated with the vehicle 10A and the user who usesthe service in the center server 30. For example, the service linkinformation may be a login ID of the regular user at a web site forusers of various services corresponding to the key sharing managementunit 327, the delivery management server 50, the EC server 60, and theC2C car sharing management server 70 (hereinafter referred to as“service login ID” for convenience). In the above-described case, theservice use registration request unit 237 of the mobile terminal 20Aatransmits the service use registration request including the servicelogin ID of the regular user that is a registration target correspondingto the various services to the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 232. When the regular user that is a registration targetcorresponding to various services does not acquire the service login ID,the processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa may activate apredetermined browser and acquire the service login ID of a website ofvarious services. Accordingly, when the user (the regular user of thevehicle 10A) logs in to the website at the time of requesting a servicethat is a target, the delivery management server 50 or the C2C carsharing management server 70 can recognize the service login IDcorresponding to the service link information and easily arrange theauthentication key regarding the service provision. Hereinafter,description will be given on the premise that the service linkinformation on the trunk delivery service and the C2C car sharingservice is the service login ID.

In the case of regular users who regularly use a plurality of vehicles10A, the center server 30 can specify the regular user solely by usingthe service login ID, but cannot specify the vehicle 10A. Therefore,information for indirectly specifying the vehicle 10A (for example,information obtained by encrypting the vehicle-specific informationusing a predetermined scheme) in addition to the service login ID may beincluded in the service link information.

When the registration of use of various services has been completed,registration management unit 326 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa and20Ab corresponding to the regular users that are registration targetsthat the registration of use of various services has been completed, viacommunication processing unit 321. When the registration of use ofvarious services has been completed, the registration management unit326 transmits a service use registration completion notificationincluding the service link information to the key sharing managementunit 327 or the service management server 40 that performs an operationand management of a service that is a registration target.

A notification that the registration of use of various services for themobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab has been completed may be transmittedfrom the service management server 40 that has received the service useregistration completion notification.

When the service use situation request has been received from the mobileterminal 20Aa by the communication processing unit 321, the registrationmanagement unit 326 generates the service use situation informationbased on, for example, the vehicle use schedule information managed bythe user service registration information DB of the storage unit 520 orthe schedule management unit 325, and distributes the service usesituation information to the mobile terminal 20Aa via the communicationprocessing unit 321.

The key sharing management unit 327 performs an operation and managementof the key sharing service.

For example, according to the key sharing request received from themobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communication processingunit 321, the key sharing management unit 327 performs the arrangementof the authentication key to the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Abcorresponding to the regular user ID designated by the key sharingrequest. Specifically, the key sharing management unit 327 collates theowner user ID and the password included in the key sharing request withthe owner user ID and the password stored in the storage unit 320, anddetermines that the key sharing request is a regular key sharing requestwhen both match. The key sharing management unit 327 inquires of theschedule management unit 325 and determines whether or not there ismismatch, that is, duplication of the use date and time regarding theuse of the services and the vehicle 10A of the regular users between theuse period information included in the key sharing request and thelatest vehicle use schedule information. When there is no duplication ofthe use time, the key sharing management unit 327 sends, to theauthentication key issuance unit 323, the authentication key arrangementrequest including information on the regular users corresponding to themobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab that are distribution targets of theauthentication key specified by the information included in the keysharing request, and the vehicle 10A that is a target of locking,unlocking, or activation using the authentication key, and authorityinformation such as a period of time in which the authentication key isavailable to the respective mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab, the numberof times the authentication key is available to the respective mobileterminals 20Aa and 20Ab, unlockable doors, and whether or not thevehicle can be activated. Accordingly, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 can specify the regular user IDs corresponding to the mobileterminals 20Aa and 20Ab that are distribution targets of theauthentication key, and the vehicle 10A that is a target of locking,unlocking, or activation using the authentication key, and issue anappropriate authentication key.

For example, the key sharing management unit 327 confirms, for example,attribute information (for example, an age or presence or absence of adriving license) of the users of the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab thatare distribution targets of the authentication key that is designated bythe key sharing request, which is stored in the storage unit 320. Whenthe users of the mobile terminal 20Aa and 20Ab (regular users of thevehicle 10A) that are distribution targets of the authentication key areusers determined to be unable to drive the vehicle 10A, the key sharingmanagement unit 327 allows an authentication key to which an authorityto be unable to activate the vehicle 10A has been imparted to be issuedto the mobile terminal 20 of the user. The user who cannot drive thevehicle 10A is, for example, a user who has not reached an age at whichthe user can acquire a driver's license or a user who does not acquirethe driver's license. Specifically, the key sharing management unit 327sends an authentication key arrangement request in which an indicationthat the activation of the vehicle 10A is prohibited is included inauthority information corresponding to the mobile terminals 20Aa and20Ab corresponding to the users determined to be unable to drive thevehicle 10A, to the authentication key issuance unit 323. Accordingly,since the authentication key issuance unit 323 can distribute theauthentication key to which the authority to prohibit the activation ofthe vehicle 10A has been imparted, to the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Abof the users who are unable to drive the vehicle 10A, it is possible toimprove safety of the vehicle 10A in the key sharing service.

For example, the key sharing management unit 327 distributes theauthentication key of the vehicle 10A to the other mobile terminal 20designated by the temporary key sharing request received from the mobileterminal 20Aa of the owner user by the communication processing unit 321based on the temporary key sharing request. Specifically, the keysharing management unit 327 specifies the ID of the installing usercorresponding to the other mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget (hereinafter referred to as “installing user ID”) based on theinstalling user information DB of the key application stored in thestorage unit 320. The key sharing management unit 327 sends anauthentication key arrangement request including the designatedinstalling user ID and information (for example, an issued ID of theauthentication key included in the temporary key sharing request)corresponding to the authentication key designated by the temporary keysharing request to the authentication key issuance unit 323.Accordingly, the authentication key issuance unit 323 can specifyanother mobile terminal 20 that is a distribution target based on theinstalling user ID, the issued ID of the authentication key, and thelike, and distribute the authentication key to the other mobile terminal20 via the communication processing unit 321.

A function of the key sharing management unit 327 may be transferred toa server (a key sharing management server) outside the center server 30,which may be included in the service management server 40, similar toother services for using the vehicle 10A.

The mobile terminal 20Ab carried by the child user includes thecommunication processing unit 231, the communication processing unit232, the authentication key acquisition unit 233, the authenticationrequest unit 234, the locking and unlocking request unit 235, and thestorage unit 230, as described above.

In the embodiment, description will be given on the premise that thefunction of the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobileterminal 20Ab is available to the child user by the key applicationbeing activated and the user authentication based on bidirectionalcommunication with the center server 30 being successful. Descriptionwill be given on the premise that the user authentication is performedby the center server 30 based on the child user ID and the password.Description will be given on the premise that functions of theauthentication request unit 234 and the locking and unlocking requestunit 235 of the mobile terminal 20Ab are available to the child user bythe key application being activated.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 acquires the authenticationkey distributed from the center server 30 according to the key sharingrequest transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aa to the center server30 via the communication processing unit 232, as described above.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ab can lock and unlock the doors ofthe vehicle 10A or activate the vehicle 10A based on the functions ofthe communication processing unit 231, the authentication request unit234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235. That is, the childuser carrying the mobile terminal 20Ab can directly use the vehicle 10Athrough the key sharing service. For example, the child user can lockand unlock the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Ab withoutperforming key exchange with the owner user and drive the vehicle 10A.Similarly, the owner user can lend the vehicle 10A to the child userwithout exchanging the key with the child user. Accordingly, it ispossible to improve convenience in lending and borrowing of the vehicle10A between the owner user of the vehicle 10A and the child user throughthe key sharing service in the authentication key management system 1.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 acquires the authenticationkey that is distributed from the center server 30 according to thetemporary key sharing request transmitted from the mobile terminal 20Aato the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 232, asdescribed above. The same applies to a case where the authentication keyis distributed to another mobile terminal 20 other than the mobileterminal 20Ab of the child user according to the temporary key sharingrequest. Accordingly, the other mobile terminal 20 including the mobileterminal 20Ab can lock and unlock the doors of the vehicle 10A oractivate the vehicle 10A based on the functions of the communicationprocessing unit 231, the authentication request unit 234, and thelocking and unlocking request unit 235. That is, for example, when aplurality of persons including other regular users get on the vehicle10A together and go out and even when the child user carrying the mobileterminal 20Ab does not acquire the authentication key in advance, thechild user does not have to borrow the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab towhich the authentication key has already been distributed, and candirectly use the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Ab, such aslocking and unlocking the vehicle 10A or driving the vehicle 10A.Similarly, even when the owner user has not caused the mobile terminal20Ab of the child user to acquire the authentication key, it is notneeded for the owner user to lend the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owneruser to the child user.

Accordingly, it is possible to improve convenience of the user in a casewhere a plurality of persons including the regular user of the vehicle10A get on the vehicle 10A together and use the vehicle 10A through thetemporary key sharing in the authentication key management system 1.

Details of Configuration Regarding Trunk Delivery Service

A configuration regarding the trunk delivery service in theauthentication key management system 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of a configurationregarding a trunk delivery service in the authentication key managementsystem 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the trunk deliveryservice in the authentication key management system 1 will be mainlydescribed with reference to FIG. 4, and duplicate description on theconfiguration overlapping the above-described configuration regardingthe key sharing service will be omitted as much as possible.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit232, the user registration request unit 236, the service useregistration request unit 237, and the service use situation requestunit 238, as described above.

The user registration request unit 236 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user (a child user) of the vehicle 10A who usesvarious services including the trunk delivery service according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The service use registration request unit 237 requests the center server30 to perform the registration of use of various services including thetrunk delivery service for each registered regular user (the owner useror the child user) according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user, as described above.

For example, the service use registration request unit 237 transmits, asthe service link information, a service use registration request forusing the trunk delivery service including a service login ID of a website for a user who uses the service of the delivery management server50 (hereinafter referred to as a “delivery site”) and a service login IDof the EC site, which corresponds to the regular user of the vehicle 10Athat is a registration target, to the center server 30.

The service use situation request unit 238 requests the center server 30to provide information on a use situation of various services (serviceuse situation information) including the trunk delivery service of theregular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration has beenperformed, in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The delivery management server 50 includes a communication device 51 anda processing device 52.

The communication device 51 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20, the center server 30,and the EC server 60 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 52 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 521, a service cooperation registration unit 522, adelivery reception unit 523, and a delivery management unit 524 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 52 includes a storage unit 520 that is realized as astorage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

The communication processing unit 521 controls the communication device51 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20, the center server 30, and the EC server 60.

The service cooperation registration unit 522 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the trunk delivery service of the regular user of the vehicle 10Aand the delivery management server 50 according to the service useregistration completion notification received from the center server 30by the communication processing unit 521.

For example, the service cooperation registration unit 522 adds a flagindicating a use target of the trunk delivery service to the servicelogin ID (service link information) included in the service useregistration completion notification in the user management DB thatmanages the user of the delivery site constructed in the storage unit520. In addition, the service cooperation registration unit 522 performsregistration in an aspect in which a service login ID of a web site(that is, the EC site) corresponding to the EC server 60 included in theservice use registration completion notification is linked to theservice login ID included in the service use registration completionnotification in the user management DB of the storage unit 520.Accordingly, when an order reception including a service login ID isreceived from the EC server 60 by the communication processing unit 521,the delivery management server 50 can specify the corresponding servicelogin ID of the delivery site. The delivery management server 50transmits the authentication key arrangement request including thespecified service login ID to the center server 30 such that it ispossible to cause the authentication key to be distributed from thecenter server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer, asdescribed above.

The delivery reception unit 523 receives information (delivery requestinformation) on the luggage delivery request including the service loginID of the EC site corresponding to an orderer of the product at the ECsite from the EC server 60 via the communication processing unit 521.The delivery request information received from the EC server 60 includesinformation on a designated delivery destination (delivery destinationinformation), information on a designated delivery date and time(delivery date and time information), and the like in addition to basicinformation such as a name, an address, and a telephone number of theorderer that is a delivery destination.

The delivery management unit 524 performs an operation and management ofeach process from receipt to delivery regarding the delivery requestreceived by the delivery reception unit 523.

For example, when the delivery management unit 524 receives anotification that a luggage has reached a business office that hasjurisdiction over a parking position of the vehicle 10A designated bythe delivery destination information of the delivery request, thedelivery management unit 524 determines a date and time of departure fordelivery of the luggage, a deliverer in charge, and the like accordingto a designated delivery time period.

The delivery management unit 524 inquires the center server 30 about theposition information of the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 521 before departure of the luggage (for example, 10 minutes beforea departure scheduled time). When the delivery management unit 524inquires the center server 30 about the position information of thevehicle 10A, a service login ID (that is, service link information) at adelivery site of the regular user of the vehicle 10A that is a user ofthe trunk delivery service is included in the inquiry. The same alsoapplies to an inquiry about position information to be described below.The delivery management unit 524 acquires current position informationof the vehicle 10A from the center server 30 via the communicationprocessing unit 521 and determines whether or not the delivery can beperformed from matching with the parking position of the designatedvehicle 10A and a relationship with a jurisdiction area.

When the delivery management unit 524 determines that the delivery canbe performed, the delivery management unit 524 transmits a notificationthat the luggage can be delivered to the trunk of the vehicle 10A(delivery available notification) to the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer via the communication processing unit 521.

When an authentication key acquisition request is received from themobile terminal 20Ac that has received the delivery availablenotification by the communication processing unit 521, the deliverymanagement unit 524 determines whether or not the authentication keyacquisition request is a regular authentication key acquisition request.Specifically, the delivery management unit 524 may perform thedetermination by collating information on a luggage that is a deliverytarget (hereinafter referred to as “delivery luggage information” forconvenience) such as a deliverer, a destination (for example, a name ofa recipient or a corporate name), a type of luggage, a delivery timeperiod, and a delivery place that can be included in the authenticationkey acquisition request, with various types of information on theluggage registered in the storage unit 520. When the delivery managementunit 524 determines that the authentication key acquisition request is aregular authentication key acquisition request, the delivery managementunit 524 transmits an authentication key arrangement request to thecenter server 30 via the communication processing unit 521. When thedelivery management unit 524 transmits the authentication keyarrangement request to the center server 30, information for specifyingthe mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer may be included in theauthentication key arrangement request. The information for specifyingthe deliverer may be, for example, an authentication ID for obtaininguser authentication at the center server 30 in order for the delivererto use the function of the key application corresponding to theauthentication key acquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal 20Ac orthe like (hereinafter referred to as a “deliverer ID” for convenience).Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer can acquire theauthentication key from the center server 30.

When the delivery management unit 524 receives an inquiry about thecurrent position of the vehicle 10A from the mobile terminal 20Ac of thedeliverer who has left for the delivery from the business office via thecommunication processing unit 521, the delivery management unit 524inquires of the center server 30 about the current position informationof the vehicle 10A. The delivery management unit 524 acquires thecurrent position information of the vehicle 10A from the center server30 via the communication processing unit 521 and transmits (transfers)the current position information of the vehicle 10A to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer. Accordingly, the deliverer who has goneout can compare the current position information of the vehicle 10A withthe information on the parking position of the vehicle 10A designated bythe delivery destination information and determine whether to deliverthe luggage or return to the business office.

When the delivery management unit 524 receives the delivery completionnotification received from the mobile terminal 20Ac of the deliverer whohas completed the delivery of the luggage via the communicationprocessing unit 521, an operation and management regarding the trunkdelivery service regarding the luggage basically ends. When theoperation and management regarding the trunk delivery service regardingthe luggage ends, the delivery management unit 524 may notify deliveryto the regular user of the vehicle 10A that is a client (a purchaser ofa product at the EC site) through an electronic mail or a predeterminedapplication cooperating with the delivery site installed in the mobileterminals 20Aa and 20Ab has been completed.

The DCM 14 of the vehicle 10A may determine that the delivery by thedeliverer has been completed when the door (the trunk lid or the like)for access to the trunk of the vehicle 10A is locked after the door isunlocked, and notify the center server 30 that the delivery by thedeliverer has been completed, as described above. Accordingly, thecenter server 30 can transmit a delivery completion notification to thedelivery management server 50 when the notification is received. Thatis, the delivery completion notification may be transmitted from thecenter server 30 to the delivery management server 50.

The EC server 60 includes a communication device 61 and a processingdevice 62.

The communication device 61 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20, the center server 30,and the delivery management server 50 over a predetermined communicationnetwork.

The processing device 62 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 621, a web resource transmission unit 622, a servicecooperation registration unit 623, and an order reception processingunit 624 as functional units that are realized by executing one or moreprograms stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU.The processing device 62 includes a storage unit 620 that is realized asa storage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

The communication processing unit 621 controls the communication device61 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20, the center server 30, and the delivery management server50.

The web resource transmission unit 622 transmits resources correspondingto the web page to be displayed on a browser of any terminal of the userbrowsing the EC site including the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab basedon various types of information as resources of the EC site stored inthe storage unit 620 to the browser of the terminal using apredetermined scheme. A top page of the EC site, a web pagecorresponding to individual product handled at the EC site, an orderinput page for the user to input various types of information at thetime of ordering individual product, and the like are included in theweb page that can be displayed at the EC site. For example, the webresource transmission unit 622 transmits a Hyper Text Markup Language(HTML) document corresponding to web page, and information under theHTML document such as an image and a moving image displayed on web pagesin parallel.

The service cooperation registration unit 623 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the trunk delivery service of the regular user of the vehicle 10Aand the EC server 60 according to the service use registrationcompletion notification received from the center server 30 by thecommunication processing unit 621. For example, the service cooperationregistration unit 623 adds a flag indicating a use target of the trunkdelivery service to the service login ID included in the service useregistration completion notification in the user management DB thatmanages the user of the EC site constructed in the storage unit 620. Inaddition, the service cooperation registration unit 623 performsregistration in an aspect in which a service login ID of a web site(that is, the delivery site) corresponding to the delivery managementserver 50 included in the service use registration completionnotification is linked to the service login ID included in the serviceuse registration completion notification in the user management DB.Accordingly, for example, when an inquiry about an ordered productincluding the service login ID of the delivery site is received from thedelivery management server 50 by the communication processing unit 621,the EC server 60 can specify the service login ID of the correspondingEC site.

The order reception processing unit 624 receives an order of productsfrom the user based on various manipulation inputs corresponding to theorder of the product of the user at the EC site. When the orderreception processing unit 624 receives an order and the trunk of thevehicle 10A is selected as a delivery destination on an order input pageof the EC site, the order reception processing unit 624 inquires thecenter server 30 about the car use schedule information via thecommunication processing unit 621. Accordingly, the order receptionprocessing unit 624 can acquire the latest vehicle use scheduleinformation via the communication processing unit 621. Therefore, forexample, when a designated date and time of delivery has alreadyoverlapped another schedule, the order reception processing unit 624 cantake countermeasures such as requesting to change a delivery date andtime.

As described above, the trunk delivery service in which a luggage otherthan an ordered product at the EC site is a target can also be assumed.In the above-described case, the delivery management server 50 maysimilarly acquire the latest vehicle use schedule information from thecenter server 30. Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 cantake countermeasures such as requesting to change a delivery date andtime when a date and time of delivery of the luggage to the trunk of thevehicle 10A designated by the regular user of the vehicle 10A hasalready overlapped another schedule.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, the position informationmanagement unit 324, the schedule management unit 325, the registrationmanagement unit 326, and the storage unit 320, as described above.

When the condition determination unit 322 receives the authenticationkey arrangement request from the delivery management server 50 via thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322determines whether or not the authentication key arrangement request isa regular authentication key arrangement request. For example, thecondition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is the regular authentication keyarrangement request based on the service login ID of the delivery siteincluded in the authentication key arrangement request or predeterminedauthentication information (for example, the ID and the password)corresponding to the delivery management server 50.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 323 specifiesthe vehicle 10A corresponding to the authentication key arrangementrequest based on the user service registration information DB of thestorage unit 320. The authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely in units of several minutes to tens of minutes fromthe distribution), the number of times of use is limited (for example,the number of times of use is solely 1), and an authority is limited sothat solely locking and unlocking of the trunk lid can be allowed.Accordingly, it is possible to suppress unauthorized use of the vehicle10A by the deliverer and to improve security. The authentication keyissuance unit 323 distributes the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20Ac of the deliverer specified by the authentication keyarrangement request via the communication processing unit 321.

For example, any method such as a known mathematical method or a methodbased on bidirectional communication between the center server 30 andthe vehicle 10 may be adopted as a method of limiting a period of timein which the authentication key is available or the number of times theauthentication key is available.

The position information management unit 324 transmits a positioninformation request to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 321 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A from the delivery management server 50 received by thecommunication processing unit 321. Accordingly, the DCM 14 of thevehicle 10A can reply the center server 30 with the position informationof the vehicle 10A input from the GPS module 13 according to theposition information request from the center server 30, and the positioninformation management unit 324 can acquire the current positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit321. The position information management unit 324 replies the deliverymanagement server 50 with the current position information acquired fromthe vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit 321.

The schedule management unit 325 replies the EC server 60 with thelatest vehicle use schedule information stored in the storage unit 320via the communication processing unit 321 according to the inquiry fromthe EC server 60 received by the communication processing unit 321.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of theregular user (the child user) who uses various services including thetrunk delivery service according to the user registration requestreceived from the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by thecommunication processing unit 321, as described above. The registrationmanagement unit 326 performs registration of use of the trunk deliveryservice by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to the serviceuse registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of theowner user by the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of various services including the trunkdelivery service has been completed, the registration management unit326 notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab corresponding to theregular users that are registration targets that the registration of useof various services including the trunk delivery service has beencompleted via the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of the trunk delivery service has beencompleted, the registration management unit 326 transmits a service useregistration completion notification including the service linkinformation to the delivery management server 50 and the EC server 60that perform an operation and management of a service that is aregistration target via the communication processing unit 321.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ac of a delivererincludes the communication processing unit 231, the communicationprocessing unit 232, the authentication key acquisition unit 233, theauthentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlocking requestunit 235, as described above.

In the embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that thefunctions of the authentication key acquisition unit 233, theauthentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlocking requestunit 235 of the mobile terminal 20Ac are available to the owner user bythe key application being activated.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 transmits the authenticationkey acquisition request to the delivery management server 50 via thecommunication processing unit 232 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by a deliverer. In the above-described case, theauthentication key acquisition request includes the above-describeddelivery luggage information stored in the storage unit 230 in advance.Accordingly, the delivery management server 50 transmits anauthentication key arrangement request to the center server 30 accordingto the authentication key acquisition request, the center server 30distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ac accordingto the authentication key arrangement request, and the mobile terminal20Ac can acquire the authentication key. Therefore, the mobile terminal20Ac can lock and unlock the trunk lid of the vehicle 10A based on thefunctions of the communication processing unit 231, the authenticationrequest unit 234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235, suchthat the deliverer can deliver the requested luggage to the trunk of thevehicle 10A, lock the trunk of the vehicle 10A, and return to home.

Details of Configuration Regarding C2C Car Sharing Service

A configuration regarding a C2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1 will be described with referenceto FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding the C2C car sharing service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the C2Ccar sharing service in the authentication key management system 1 willbe mainly described with respect to FIG. 5, and duplicate description onthe configuration overlapping the above-described configurationregarding the key sharing service or the like will be omitted as much aspossible.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Aa carried by theowner user of the vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit232, the user registration request unit 236, the service useregistration request unit 237, the service use situation request unit238, as described above.

The user registration request unit 236 requests the center server 30 toregister the regular user (a child user) of the vehicle 10A who usesvarious services including the C2C car sharing service according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The service use registration request unit 237 requests the center server30 to perform the registration of use of various services including theC2C car sharing service for each registered regular user (the owner useror the child user) according to a predetermined manipulation by theowner user, as described above.

For example, the service use registration request unit 237 transmits, asthe service link information, a service use registration request forusing the C2C car sharing service including a service login ID of a website for a user who uses the C2C car sharing service corresponding tothe C2C car sharing management server 70 (hereinafter referred to as a“C2C car sharing site”), which corresponds to the regular user of thevehicle 10A that is a registration target, to the center server 30.

The service use situation request unit 238 requests the center server 30to provide information on a use situation of various services (serviceuse situation information) including the C2C car sharing service of theregular user of the vehicle 10A for which the use registration has beenperformed, in a form corresponding to the owner user ID according to apredetermined manipulation by the owner user, as described above.

The C2C car sharing management server 70 includes a communication device71 and a processing device 72.

The communication device 71 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20 and the center server30 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 72 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 721, a service cooperation registration unit 722, areservation management unit 723, and a vehicle management unit 724 asfunctional units that are realized by executing one or more programsstored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage device on the CPU. Theprocessing device 72 includes a storage unit 720 that is realized as astorage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like of the servercomputer.

Description will be given on the premise that the information forspecifying the vehicle 10A that is a lending target has already beenregistered (stored) in the storage unit 720 in an aspect in which theinformation is linked to the service login ID via the C2C car sharingsite by the regular user (the owner user) of the vehicle 10A.

The communication processing unit 721 controls the communication device71 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20 and the center server 30.

The service cooperation registration unit 722 performs informationregistration for cooperation between the center server 30 regarding theuse of the C2C car sharing service of the regular user of the vehicle10A and the C2C car sharing management server 70 according to theservice use registration completion notification received from thecenter server 30 by the communication processing unit 721.

For example, the service cooperation registration unit 722 adds a flagindicating a lender of the vehicle 10A of the C2C car sharing service tothe service login ID included in the service use registration completionnotification in the user management DB that manages the user of the C2Ccar sharing site constructed in the storage unit 720. The C2C carsharing management server 70 transmits the authentication keyarrangement request including the service login ID corresponding to theregular user of the vehicle 10A, which is the lender, to the centerserver 30 such that it is possible to cause the authentication key to bedistributed from the center server 30 to the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower, as described above.

The reservation management unit 723 manages reservation of use of thevehicle 10A that is performed through the C2C car sharing site or thelike.

For example, the reservation management unit 723 receives registrationof a date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable from the regularuser of the vehicle 10A through the C2C car sharing site and registers(stores) the received date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentablein the storage unit 720. When the date and time on which the vehicle 10Ais rentable is registered (stored) in the storage unit 720, thereservation management unit 723 inquires of the center server 30 aboutthe car use schedule information via the communication processing unit721. Accordingly, the reservation management unit 723 can acquire thelatest vehicle use schedule information via the communication processingunit 721. Therefore, the C2C car sharing management server 70, forexample, can take countermeasures such as requesting to change the dateand time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable, which is received fromthe regular user of the vehicle 10A, or registering a portion excludingan overlapping portion from the date and time on which the vehicle 10Ais rentable as the date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentablewhen the date and time on which the vehicle 10A is rentable alreadyoverlaps another schedule or registering.

For example, the reservation management unit 723 receives thereservation of use of the vehicle 10A within a range of the date andtime on which the vehicle 10A is rentable, which is stored in thestorage unit 720. When the reservation management unit 723 receives thereservation of use of the vehicle 10A from a user who is a borrowerthrough the C2C car sharing site, the reservation management unit 723updates information on a lending schedule of the vehicle 10A (lendingschedule information) stored in the storage unit 720.

For example, when the authentication key acquisition request is receivedfrom the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower of the vehicle 10A by thecommunication processing unit 721, the reservation management unit 723determines whether or not the authentication key acquisition request isa regular authentication key acquisition request. Specifically, thereservation management unit 723 may perform the determination based onthe service login ID and the password of the C2C car sharing siteincluded in the authentication key acquisition request, or arelationship regarding the date and time of reservation of use (forexample, within a range of the date and time of reservation of use orless than a predetermined time until a date and time of use start). Whenthe authentication key acquisition request is a regular authenticationkey acquisition request, the reservation management unit 723 transmitsan authentication key arrangement request to the center server 30 viathe communication processing unit 721. When the authentication keyarrangement request is transmitted to the center server 30, informationfor specifying the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower user of thevehicle 10A is included in the authentication key arrangement request.The information for specifying the borrower user of the vehicle 10A maybe, for example, an authentication ID (hereinafter referred to as a“borrower user ID” for convenience) for obtaining user authentication inthe center server 30 in order for the borrower user of the vehicle 10Ato use a function of the authentication key acquisition unit 233 of themobile terminal 20Ad. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower user of the vehicle 10A can acquire the authentication key fromthe center server 30.

The vehicle management unit 724 manages the vehicle 10A that is alending target.

For example, the vehicle management unit 724 inquires of the centerserver 30 about a current position information of the vehicle 10A viathe communication processing unit 721 before the date and time ofreservation of use of the vehicle 10A (for example, a period from tensof minutes ago to immediately before). The vehicle management unit 724acquires the current position information of the vehicle 10A repliedfrom center server 30 according to the inquiry via the communicationprocessing unit 721. Accordingly, a determination can be made as towhether or not the vehicle 10A returns to a designated place before adate and time of lending (a date and time of reservation of use) of thevehicle 10A. Accordingly, when the vehicle 10A does not return to thedesignated place, the C2C car sharing management server 70 can takecountermeasures such as warning the regular user who is a lender of thevehicle 10A so that the vehicle 10A returns to the designated placethrough an e-mail or a predetermined application cooperating with theC2C car sharing site, which is installed in the mobile terminals 20Aaand 20Ab.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, the position informationmanagement unit 324, the schedule management unit 325, the registrationmanagement unit 326, and the storage unit 320, as described above.

When the authentication key arrangement request is received from the C2Ccar sharing management server 70 by the communication processing unit321, the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request. For example, the condition determination unit 322determines whether or not the authentication key arrangement request isthe regular authentication key arrangement request based on the servicelink information included in the authentication key arrangement request(for example, the service login ID of the C2C car sharing site) orpredetermined authentication information (for example, the ID and thepassword) corresponding to the C2C car sharing management server 70.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 323 specifiesthe vehicle 10A corresponding to the authentication key arrangementrequest based on the user service registration information DB of thestorage unit 320. The authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely at the date and time of reservation of use of thevehicle 10A included in the authentication key arrangement request andin a buffering period before and after the date and time of reservationof use of the vehicle 10A). The authentication key issuance unit 323distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ad of theborrower of the vehicle 10A specified by the authentication keyarrangement request via the communication processing unit 321.

The C2C car sharing service may include, for example, a service (a C2Ctrunk sharing service) in an aspect in which solely a trunk of thevehicle 10A are lent. In the case of a vehicle trunk lending service,the authentication key issuance unit 323 may issue an authentication keywith an authority limited so that locking and unlocking of the trunk lidare allowed. Accordingly, it is possible to limit a lending target ofC2C car sharing to solely the trunk. By limiting the lending target ofthe C2C car sharing to solely the trunk, for example, a trunk deliveryservice in an aspect in which the trunk of the vehicle 10A to be lent ata travel destination is borrowed and a purchased product for use at atravel destination is delivered to the borrowed trunk can be realized.

The position information management unit 324 transmits a positioninformation request to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 321 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A from the C2C car sharing management server 70 received bythe communication processing unit 321. Accordingly, the positioninformation management unit 324 can acquire the current positioninformation from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit321. The position information management unit 324 replies the C2C carsharing management server 70 with the current position informationacquired from the vehicle 10A via the communication processing unit 321.

The schedule management unit 325 transmits the latest vehicle useschedule information to the vehicle 10A via the communication processingunit 321 according to the inquiry about the current position of thevehicle 10A from the C2C car sharing management server 70 received bythe communication processing unit 321.

The registration management unit 326 performs registration of theregular user (the child user) who uses various services including theC2C car sharing service according to the user registration requestreceived from the mobile terminal 20Aa of the owner user by thecommunication processing unit 321, as described above. The registrationmanagement unit 326 performs registration of use of the C2C car sharingservice by the regular user of the vehicle 10A according to the serviceuse registration request received from the mobile terminal 20Aa of theowner user by the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of various services including the C2C carsharing service has been completed, the registration management unit 326notifies the mobile terminals 20Aa and 20Ab corresponding to the regularusers that are registration targets that the registration of use ofvarious services including the C2C car sharing service has beencompleted via the communication processing unit 321, as described above.When the registration of use of the C2C car sharing service has beencompleted, the registration management unit 326 transmits a service useregistration completion notification including the service linkinformation to the C2C car sharing management server 70 that performs anoperation and management of a service that is a registration target viathe communication processing unit 321.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20Ad of the borrower ofthe vehicle 10A includes the communication processing unit 231, thecommunication processing unit 232, the authentication key acquisitionunit 233, the authentication request unit 234, the locking and unlockingrequest unit 235, and the storage unit 230, as described above.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 transmits an authenticationkey acquisition request to the C2C car sharing management server 70 viathe communication processing unit 232 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the borrower of the vehicle 10A. When the authenticationkey acquisition request is transmitted, the service login ID of the C2Ccar sharing site corresponding to the borrower of the vehicle 10A isincluded in the authentication key acquisition request. Accordingly, theC2C car sharing management server 70 can transmit an authentication keyarrangement request to the center server 30 according to theauthentication key acquisition request, the center server 30 candistribute the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20Ad accordingto the authentication key arrangement request, and the mobile terminal20Ad can acquire the authentication key. Therefore, the mobile terminal20Ad can lock and unlock the door of the vehicle 10A based on thefunctions of the communication processing unit 231, the authenticationrequest unit 234, and the locking and unlocking request unit 235. Thatis, the borrower of the vehicle 10A carrying the mobile terminal 20Adcan directly use the vehicle 10A, such as locking and unlocking thevehicle 10A and driving the vehicle 10A using the mobile terminal 20Adwithout performing exchange of a key with the regular user of thevehicle 10A through the C2C car sharing service. Similarly, the regularuser of the vehicle 10A can lend the vehicle 10A to another person otherthan the regular user without exchanging the key. Therefore, it ispossible to improve convenience in lending and borrowing of the vehicle10A between the regular user of the vehicle 10A and another person otherthan the regular user through the C2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1.

Details of Configuration Regarding B2C Car Sharing Service

A B2C car sharing service in the authentication key management system 1will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram mainly illustrating an example of the configurationregarding the B2C car sharing service in the authentication keymanagement system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration regarding the B2Ccar sharing service in the authentication key management system 1 willbe mainly described with respect to FIG. 6, and duplicate description onthe configuration overlapping the above-described configurationregarding the key sharing service or the like will be omitted as much aspossible.

The B2C car sharing management server 80 includes a communication device81 and a processing device 82.

The communication device 81 is any device that performs bidirectionalcommunication with each of the mobile terminal 20B and the center server30 over a predetermined communication network.

The processing device 82 includes, for example, a communicationprocessing unit 821, a reservation management unit 822, and a vehiclemanagement unit 823 as functional units that are realized by executingone or more programs stored in the ROM or the auxiliary storage deviceon the CPU. The processing device 82 includes a storage unit 820 that isrealized as a storage area of an auxiliary storage device or the like ofthe server computer.

The communication processing unit 821 controls the communication device81 to perform transmission and reception of various signals such ascontrol signals or information signals to and from each of the mobileterminal 20B and the center server 30.

The reservation management unit 822 manages the reservation of use ofthe vehicle 10B that is performed through the B2C car sharing site orthe like.

For example, the reservation management unit 822 receives reservation ofuse of the vehicle 10B from a user (hereinafter referred to as “borroweruser”) who wants to borrow the vehicle 10B through a website that isoperated by a company of the B2C car sharing management server 80 or thelike (hereinafter referred to as a “B2C car sharing site” forconvenience). The reservation management unit 822 stores information onthe received reservation of use of the vehicle 10B (use reservationinformation) in the storage unit 820. When the use reservationinformation is stored in the storage unit 820, for example, informationfor specifying the vehicle 10B that is a target, information on a dateand time of reservation of use (a start date and time of use and an enddate and time of use), and a service login ID of the borrower user inthe B2C car sharing site may be included in the use reservationinformation.

For example, the reservation management unit 822 updates the informationon the use schedule of the vehicle 10B (the vehicle use scheduleinformation) stored in the storage unit 820 each time the reservationmanagement unit 822 receives the reservation of use of the vehicle 10B.Accordingly, the B2C car sharing management server 80 can display theuse schedule of the vehicle 10B on the B2C car sharing site to present adate and time when the reservation of use can be made, to the borroweruser.

For example, when the authentication key request is received from themobile terminal 20B by the communication processing unit 821, thereservation management unit 822 determines whether or not theauthentication key request is a regular authentication key request.Specifically, the reservation management unit 822 may perform thedetermination based on the service login ID and the password of the B2Ccar sharing site corresponding to the borrower user included in theauthentication key request, or a relationship regarding the date andtime of reservation of use (for example, within a range of the date andtime of reservation of use or less than a predetermined time until adate and time of use start). When the authentication key request is aregular authentication key acquisition request, the reservationmanagement unit 822 transmits an authentication key arrangement requestto the center server 30 via the communication processing unit 821. Whenthe authentication key arrangement request is transmitted to the centerserver 30, information for specifying the mobile terminal 20B of theborrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B is included in theauthentication key arrangement request. The information for specifyingthe borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B may be, for example, anauthentication ID (hereinafter referred to as a “borrower user ID” forconvenience) for obtaining user authentication in the center server 30in order for the borrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B to use afunction of a key application corresponding to the authentication keyacquisition unit 233 of the mobile terminal 20B or the like.Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20B of the borrower user borrowing thevehicle 10B can acquire the authentication key from the center server30.

The vehicle management unit 823 manages the vehicle 10B that is alending target.

For example, the vehicle management unit 823 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the vehicle 10B parked in the vicinity (for example,within hundreds of meters) of a place designated in the reservation ofuse via the communication processing unit 821 before the date and timeof reservation of use of the vehicle 10B of a borrower user (forexample, before tens of minutes). The vehicle management unit 823acquires the position information of the vehicle 10B parked in thevicinity of the designated place replied from center server 30 accordingto the inquiry via communication processing unit 821. Accordingly, thevehicle management unit 823 can specify one or a plurality of vehicles10B parked around the designated place and determine, for example, thevehicle 10B to be lent before the start date and time of use of thevehicle 10B of the borrower.

For example, the vehicle management unit 823 inquires of the centerserver 30 about the position information of the vehicle 10B in thedesignated area via the communication processing unit 821 according to asearch request of the vehicle 10B in a designated area by the borroweruser at the B2C car sharing site. The vehicle management unit 823acquires the position information of the vehicle 10B in the designatedarea replied from center server 30 according to the inquiry viacommunication processing unit 821. Accordingly, the vehicle managementunit 823, for example, can present the position information of thevehicle 10B that is a target to the borrower user who wants to borrowthe vehicle 10B in the designated area immediately at the B2C carsharing site.

The processing device 32 of the center server 30 includes thecommunication processing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322,the authentication key issuance unit 323, and the storage unit 320, asdescribed above.

When the authentication key arrangement request received from the B2Ccar sharing management server 80 is received by the communicationprocessing unit 321, the condition determination unit 322 determineswhether or not the authentication key arrangement request is a regularauthentication key arrangement request. For example, the conditiondetermination unit 322 determines whether or not the authentication keyarrangement request is the regular authentication key arrangementrequest based on whether or not the borrower user ID included in theauthentication key arrangement request is the authentication ID alreadyregistered in the storage unit 320, or on predetermined authenticationinformation (for example, an ID Password) corresponding to the B2C carsharing management server 80.

When the condition determination unit 322 determines whether or not theauthentication key arrangement request is the regular authentication keyarrangement request, the authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which a time is limited (for example, the vehicleis available solely at the date and time of reservation of use of thevehicle 10B included in the authentication key arrangement request andin a buffering period before and after the date and time of reservationof use of the vehicle 10B). The authentication key issuance unit 323distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20B of theborrower user borrowing the vehicle 10B specified by the authenticationkey arrangement request via the communication processing unit 321.

The processing device 23 of the mobile terminal 20B of the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B includes the communication processing unit231, the communication processing unit 232, the authentication keyacquisition unit 233, the authentication request unit 234, the lockingand unlocking request unit 235, and the storage unit 230, as describedabove.

The authentication key acquisition unit 233 transmits an authenticationkey acquisition request to the B2C car sharing management server 80 viathe communication processing unit 232 according to a predeterminedmanipulation by the borrower user of the vehicle 10B. When theauthentication key acquisition request is transmitted, the service loginID of the B2C car sharing site corresponding to the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B is included in the authentication keyacquisition request. Accordingly, the B2C car sharing management server80 can transmit an authentication key arrangement request to the centerserver 30 according to the authentication key acquisition request, thecenter server 30 can distribute the authentication key to the mobileterminal 20B according to the authentication key arrangement request,and the mobile terminal 20B can acquire the authentication key.Therefore, the mobile terminal 20B can lock and unlock the door of thevehicle 10B based on the functions of the communication processing unit231, the authentication request unit 234, and the locking and unlockingrequest unit 235. That is, the borrower borrowing the vehicle 10Bcarrying the mobile terminal 20B can directly use the vehicle 10B, suchas locking and unlocking the vehicle 10B and driving the vehicle 10Busing the mobile terminal 20B without performing exchange of a key withthe company of the vehicle 10B through the B2C car sharing service.Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience for the borrower userborrowing the vehicle 10B through the B2C car sharing service in theauthentication key management system 1.

Details of Characteristic Operation of Center Server

A characteristic processing flow of the center server 30 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing an example of a process ofissuing and distributing the authentication key to the mobile terminals20 of the users who use the vehicles 10A and 10B in the center server 30according to the embodiment (hereinafter referred to as an“authentication key issuing and distributing process”). The processaccording to the flowchart is repeatedly executed at every predeterminedprocessing cycle.

In step S702, the authentication key issuance unit 323 determineswhether or not an authentication key acquisition request has beenreceived from the mobile terminal 20 (20Aa) by the communicationprocessing unit 321. The authentication key issuance unit 323 proceedsto step S704 when the authentication key acquisition request has beenreceived from the mobile terminal 20Aa by the communication processingunit 321, and proceeds to step S706 when the authentication keyacquisition request has not been received.

In step S704, the authentication key issuance unit 323 issues theauthentication key in which various authorities imparted to theauthentication key are not limited, that is, an authentication key towhich a predefined maximum range of authority has been imparted. Forexample, the authentication key issuance unit 323 imparts, to theauthentication key, an authority in which the number of times theauthentication key is available or a period in which the authenticationkey is available is unlimited, all the doors of the vehicle 10A can beunlocked, the vehicle 10A can be activated, and the number of times theauthentication key can be shared through temporary key sharing is equalto or greater than two.

In step S706, the authentication key issuance unit 323 determineswhether or not the authentication key arrangement request has beenreceived. The authentication key issuance unit 323 proceeds to step S708when the authentication key arrangement request has been received, andends the current process when the authentication key arrangement requesthas not been received.

In step S708, the authentication key issuance unit 323 determinesvarious authorities of the authentication key according to the contentof the service of using the vehicle 10A corresponding to theauthentication key arrangement request, and issues an authentication keyto which the various determined authorities have been imparted.

For example, FIG. 8 illustrates a table showing a relationship betweenthe content of various services of using the vehicle 10A and theauthority imparted to the authentication key.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, in the case of a normal key sharing service,the use period or the authority regarding the use period given to theauthentication key may be an aspect in which the authentication key islimited by a relatively low degree of limit, such as an aspect in whichthe authentication key is available for several hours. This is because adistribution target of the authentication key is the mobile terminal20Ab of the child user (a family member or a friend of the owner user orthe like) of the vehicle 10A having a certain degree of reliability.

In the case of the normal key sharing service, the authentication keywith an authority with which all of a door for getting on and off andthe trunk door of the vehicle 10A can be unlocked and the vehicle 10Acan be activated may be imparted and issued. As described above, thechild user of the vehicle 10A can use all the functions regarding theunlocking and activation of the vehicle 10A.

In the case of the normal key sharing service, an authentication keywith an authority with which the trunk door cannot be unlocked may beissued. Accordingly, for example, in a case where the owner user alwayskeeps personal items in a trunk, it is possible to suppress a situationin which the child user freely uses the personal items.

In the case of the normal key sharing service, although the number oftimes is limited, an authentication key with an authority with whichtemporary key sharing is possible is issued. Accordingly, it is possibleto realize temporary key sharing using the mobile terminal 20Ab of thechild user.

In the case of the temporary key sharing service, the use period or theauthority regarding the use period imparted to the authentication keymay be an aspect in which the authentication key is limited by arelatively high degree of limit, such as an aspect in which theauthentication key can be used solely several times. Accordingly, it ispossible to suppress a situation in which a user of another mobileterminal 20 can freely use the vehicle 10A.

In the case of the temporary key sharing service, an authority withwhich solely the door for getting-on and off of the vehicle 10A can beunlocked and the vehicle 10A cannot be activated is imparted to theauthentication key. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress a situationin which the user of the other mobile terminal 20 optionally drives thevehicle 10A. For example, when the owner user always keeps personalitems in the trunk, it is possible to suppress a situation in which theuser of the other mobile terminal 20 optionally uses the personal itemsof the owner user.

Even in the case of the temporary key sharing service, there is a casewhere the other user of the mobile terminal 20 wishes to drive thevehicle 10A. Therefore, an authentication key with an authority withwhich the vehicle 10A can be activated may be issued according to, forexample, a setting of the owner user. In the case of the temporary keysharing service, there may be a case where the personal items of theowner user are placed in a vehicle cabin which is accessed through thedoor for getting on and off, rather than the trunk of the vehicle 10A.Therefore, for example, an authentication key with an authority withwhich unlocking of the door for getting on and off is prohibited and thetrunk door can be unlocked may be imparted in order to request a luggageof the user of the other mobile terminal 20 to be put in the trunkaccording to setting by the owner user.

In the case of the temporary key sharing service, the authority of thedistributed authentication key is limited so that temporary key sharingcannot be performed any more. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress asituation in which the authentication key shared with the other mobileterminal 20 through the temporary key sharing can be further shared withanother mobile terminal 20.

In the case of the B2C car sharing service, an authentication key withan authority of a use period set according to a reserved period of thevehicle 10B is issued. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress asituation in which the vehicle 10B can be used in a time period otherthan a reserved time period. Hereinafter, the same applies to the casesof the B2C trunk sharing service, the C2C car sharing service, and theC2C trunk sharing service.

In the case of the B2C car sharing service, an authentication key withan authority with which all the doors of the vehicle 10B can be unlockedand the vehicle 10B can be activated is issued. Accordingly, a borrowerof the vehicle 10B in the B2C car sharing service can use all thefunctions of the vehicle 10B.

In the case of the B2C trunk sharing service, an authentication key withan authority with which all the doors of the vehicle 10B can be solelyunlocked and the activation of the vehicle 10B is prohibited is issued.Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the borrower who wishes to usethe vehicle 10B as a luggage storage place from driving the vehicle 10B.

In the case of the trunk delivery service, the number of times of use orthe authority regarding the number of times of use imparted to theauthentication key may be limited at a relatively high degree of limit,such as a degree of limit at which solely the locking and unlocking ofthe trunk door are available. In the case of the trunk delivery service,an authentication key with an authority with which solely the trunk doorof the vehicle 10A can be unlocked and the activation of the vehicle 10Ais prohibited is issued. Accordingly, it is possible to improve thesecurity of the vehicle 10A when the deliverer of the trunk deliveryservice unlocks the trunk door of the vehicle 10A and delivers theluggage.

An authentication key with the same authority may also be issued in thecase of the trunk collection service or the trunk recovery servicedescribed above, in addition to the trunk delivery service.

In the case of the C2C car sharing service, an authentication key withan authority with which solely the door for getting on and off among allthe doors of the vehicle 10A can be unlocked and the vehicle 10A can beactivated is issued. Accordingly, for example, in a case where the owneruser always keeps personal items in the trunk, it is possible tosuppress the borrower of the vehicle 10A from optionally using thepersonal items of the owner user.

Even in the case of the C2C car sharing service, an authentication keywith an authority with which the trunk door of the vehicle 10A can beunlocked may be issued according to, for example, a setting of the owneruser.

In the case of the C2C trunk sharing service, an authentication key withan authority with which solely the door for getting on and off among allthe doors of the vehicle 10A can be unlocked and the activation of thevehicle 10A is prohibited is issued.

As described above, it is possible to suppress the borrower who wishesto use the vehicle 10A as a luggage storage place from driving thevehicle 10A. Accordingly, for example, in a case where the owner useralways keeps personal items in the trunk, it is possible to suppress theborrower of the vehicle 10A from optionally using the personal items ofthe owner user.

Referring back to FIG. 7, in step S710, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 distributes the issued authentication key to the mobileterminal 20 corresponding to the authentication key arrangement requestvia the communication processing unit 321, and ends the current process.

Operation

As described above, in the embodiment, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 distributes, to the mobile terminal 20, key information(authentication key) for unlocking or activating the vehicle 10 by themobile terminal 20 transmitting a predetermined transmission signal tothe vehicle 10. The authentication key issuance unit 323 makes theauthority regarding the unlocking or activation of the vehicle 10imparted to the authentication key different according to the mobileterminal 20 that is a distribution target.

Accordingly, the center server 30 can make the authority regardingunlocking or activation of the vehicle 10 imparted to the authenticationkey different according to the mobile terminal 20 that is a distributiontarget. Accordingly, by imparting an authority according to thedistribution target, it is possible to improve the security of thevehicle 10.

In the embodiment, when the authentication key issuance unit 323distributes the authentication key to the mobile terminal 20 related toa predetermined service of using the vehicle 10, an authority regardingunlocking or activation of the vehicle 10 is made different according tothe content of the service.

Accordingly, the vehicle 10 is not needed to be activated or solely someof the doors of the vehicle 10 may be unlocked according to the contentof the service, and the center server 30 can distribute theauthentication key to the mobile terminal 20 according to the content ofthe service. Therefore, for example, a situation in which theauthentication key with unneeded authorities is distributed to themobile terminal 20 of the third party (for example, the borrower of thevehicle 10 of the C2C car sharing service or the deliverer of the trunkdelivery service) related to a service other than the user of thevehicle 10 can be avoided. Therefore, the center server 30 can realizeimprovement of the security of the vehicle 10 while maintaining theconvenience of providing the service.

In the embodiment, when the predetermined service is a car sharingservice (a B2C car sharing service) for general consumers by a companyor a key sharing service in which a plurality of regular user includingthe owner user of the vehicle 10A can receive the authentication keywith the respective mobile terminals 20, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 distributes the authentication key with an authority with whichall the doors of the vehicle 10 can be unlocked and the vehicle 10 canbe activated, to the mobile terminal 20.

Accordingly, the center server 30 can specifically impart an authorityappropriate for the authentication key to be distributed to the mobileterminal 20 of the borrower of the vehicle 10A according to the B2C carsharing service. The center server 30 can specifically impart anauthority appropriate for the authentication key to be distributed tothe mobile terminals 20 of the respective regular users according to thekey sharing service of the authentication key in which the regular usersincluding the owner user of the vehicle 10 (for example, the owner userand a family member or a friend of the owner user) can receive theauthentication key with the respective mobile terminals 20.

In the embodiment, when the predetermined service is the C2C car sharingservice, the authentication key issuance unit 323 distributes theauthentication key with the authority with which solely the door forgetting on and off among all the doors of the vehicle 10A can beunlocked, to the mobile terminal 20.

Accordingly, personal items of the owner user or the like is likely tobe always kept in the luggage room of the vehicle 10A owned by anindividual, and the center server 30 can specifically impart anauthority appropriate for the authentication key to be distributed tothe mobile terminal 20 of the borrower of the vehicle 10 according tothe C2C car sharing service.

In the embodiment, when the predetermined service is the trunk deliveryservice, the authentication key issuance unit 323 distributes anauthentication key with an authority with which solely a door (forexample, a trunk door) through which the luggage room is accessed amongall the doors of the vehicle 10 can be unlocked, to the mobile terminal20.

Accordingly, in the trunk delivery service, it is sufficient that a door(for example, a trunk lid) through which the luggage room is accessedcan be unlocked, and the center server 30 can specifically impart anappropriate authentication key according to the trunk delivery service.

In the embodiment, when the predetermined service is a car sharingservice (a trunk sharing service) in which the inside of the cabin ofthe vehicle 10 is used as a trunk room, the authentication key issuanceunit 323 distributes the authentication key with an authority with whichthe vehicle 10 cannot be activated, to the mobile terminal 20.

Accordingly, in the trunk sharing service, the borrower does not need tocause the vehicle 10 to travel, and the center server 30 canspecifically impart an authority appropriate for the authentication keyto be distributed to the mobile terminal 20 of the borrower according tothe trunk sharing service.

In the embodiment, when the user of the mobile terminal 20 that is adistribution target is a regular user of the vehicle 10, theauthentication key issuance unit 323 makes the authority regardingunlocking or activation of the vehicle 10, which is imparted to theauthentication key, different according to whether the user is the owneruser of the vehicle 10 or the regular user (the child user) other thanthe owner user of the vehicle 10.

Accordingly, for example, the owner user may wish to limit an aspect inwhich the vehicle 10 is used by the child user, and the key informationmanagement device can make the authority of the authentication key to bedistributed to the mobile terminal 20 different between the owner userand a regular user other than the owner user.

In the embodiment, in a case where the user of the mobile terminal 20that is a distribution target is the regular user of the vehicle 10, theauthentication key issuance unit 323 makes the authority regarding thesharing of the authentication key with another mobile terminal 20, whichis imparted to the authentication key, different according to whetherthe user is the owner user of the vehicle 10 or the regular user otherthan the owner user of the vehicle 10.

According to the embodiment, the authentication key issuance unit 323makes the authority regarding the sharing of the authentication key (forexample, the number of times the authentication key can be shared or thenumber of persons with which the authentication key can be shared)different between the owner user of the vehicle 10 and the regular user(a child user) other than the owner user. Therefore, for example, theowner user may wish to limit unneeded spreading of the authenticationkey by another regular user of the vehicle 10, and the authenticationkey issuance unit 323 can limit the authority regarding the sharing ofthe authentication key to be distributed to the mobile terminal 20 ofthe regular user other than the owner user.

The embodiments for carrying out the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail above, but the present disclosure is not limited tothe specific embodiments as described above, and various modificationsand changes can be performed without departing from the gist of thepresent disclosure described in the claims.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the mobile terminal 20transmits the authentication request including the authentication key tothe key unit 12, and the key unit 12 performs exchange of signals withthe locking, unlocking and activation device 11 according to anauthentication result based on the authentication key. Therefore, thelocking and unlocking of the doors of the vehicle 10A by the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 and the activation of the vehicle 10Aare realized, but the present disclosure is not limited to the aboveaspect.

Specifically, a configuration in which the function of the key unit 12is transferred to the mobile terminal 20, and the mobile terminal 20performs exchange of signals based on the above-described keyinformation (internal key information) with the vehicle 10 (the locking,unlocking and activation device 11) using the LF radio waves and the RFradio waves such that the locking and unlocking of the doors of thevehicle 10A and the activation of the vehicle 10A by the locking,unlocking and activation device 11 are realized may be adopted. In theabove-described case, the “authentication key” of the embodimentdescribed above may be read as the “key information”. That is, thecenter server 30 may issue the key information instead of theauthentication key and distribute the key information to the mobileterminal 20 in the same method as in the authentication key in theabove-described embodiment. Accordingly, the same operation and effectsas those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

The functions of the key unit 12 may be integrated with the locking,unlocking and activation device 11, and a configuration regardingcommunication between the locking, unlocking and activation device 11and the key unit 12 and authentication related to the communication (theLF radio wave transmitter 111, the RF radio wave receiver 112, thecollating ECU 113, the LF radio wave receiver 121, and the RF radio wavetransmitter 122) may be omitted. In the above-described case, when theauthentication of the mobile terminal 20 based on the authentication keyhas been successful, the key ECU 124 may directly output an unlockingcommand or a locking command and an activation command to each of thebody ECU 114 and the engine ECU 116 instead of the collating ECU 113,and perform locking and unlocking the doors of the vehicle 10 andactivation of the vehicle 10. Accordingly, the same operation andeffects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

What is claimed is:
 1. A key information management device comprising acondition determination unit, and a key information distribution unit,the key information distribution unit is configured to distribute, to amobile terminal, key information for unlocking or activating a vehicleby the mobile terminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signalto the vehicle, wherein the condition determination unit determineswhether or not an authentication key acquisition request or anauthentication key arrangement request is a regular authentication keyacquisition request or a regular authentication key arrangement requestaccording to reception of an authentication key acquisition request fromthe mobile terminal or an authentication key arrangement request from aserver, the key information distribution unit receives an authenticationkey arrangement request to the mobile terminal related to apredetermined service of using the vehicle from a plurality ofcompanies, each of the companies provides the predetermined service ofusing the vehicle, and the key information distribution unit specifies aspecification of the authentication key to be issued and issues anauthentication key corresponding to the specified specification when thecondition determination unit determines that the authentication keyacquisition request or the authentication key arrangement request is theregular one.
 2. The key information management device according to claim1, wherein when the key information distribution unit distributes thekey information to the mobile terminal related to the predeterminedservice of using the vehicle, the key information distribution unitmakes the authority regarding unlocking or activation of the vehicledifferent according to content of the predetermined service.
 3. The keyinformation management device according to claim 2, wherein when thepredetermined service is a car sharing service for a general consumer ofa company of the plurality of companies or a key sharing service inwhich a plurality of users including an owner user of the vehiclereceives the key information with the respective mobile terminals, thekey information distribution unit distributes the key information withan authority with which all doors of the vehicle are unlocked and thevehicle is activated, to the mobile terminal.
 4. The key informationmanagement device according to claim 2, wherein when the predeterminedservice is a car sharing service among individuals, the key informationdistribution unit distributes the key information with an authority withwhich solely a door for getting on and off among all the doors of thevehicle is unlocked, to the mobile terminal.
 5. The key informationmanagement device according to claim 2, wherein when the predeterminedservice is a delivery service in which a luggage room of the vehicle isdesignated as a luggage delivery destination, the key informationdistribution unit distributes the key information with an authority withwhich solely a door through which the luggage room is accessed among allthe doors of the vehicle is unlocked, to the mobile terminal.
 6. The keyinformation management device according to claim 2, wherein when thepredetermined service is a car sharing service in which an inside of acabin of the vehicle is used as a trunk room, the key informationdistribution unit distributes the key information with an authority withwhich the vehicle is not activated, to the mobile terminal.
 7. The keyinformation management device according to claim 1, wherein when a userof the mobile terminal that is the distribution target is the user ofthe vehicle, the key information distribution unit makes an authorityregarding unlocking or activation of the vehicle, which is imparted tothe key information, different according to whether the user is an owneruser of the vehicle or a user other than the owner user of the vehicle.8. The key information management device according to claim 1, whereinwhen a user of the mobile terminal that is the distribution target is auser of the vehicle, the key information distribution unit makes anauthority regarding sharing of the key information with another mobileterminal, which is imparted to the key information, different accordingto whether the user is an owner user of the vehicle or a user other thanthe owner user of the vehicle.
 9. A key information management methodthat is executed by a key information management device, the keyinformation management method comprising the steps of: distributing, toa mobile terminal, key information for unlocking or activating a vehicleby the mobile terminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signalto the vehicle, wherein, in the distributing of the key information, themethod further comprising the steps of: determining whether or not anauthentication key acquisition request or an authentication keyarrangement request is a regular authentication key acquisition requestor a regular authentication key arrangement request according toreception of an authentication key acquisition request from the mobileterminal or an authentication key arrangement request from a server,receiving an authentication key arrangement request to the mobileterminal related to a predetermined service of using the vehicle from aplurality of companies, each of the companies provides the predeterminedservice of using the vehicle, and specifying a specification of theauthentication key to be issued and issues an authentication keycorresponding to the specified specification when the conditiondetermination unit determines that the authentication key acquisitionrequest or the authentication key arrangement request is the regularone.
 10. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a keyinformation management program causing an information processing deviceto execute a key information distribution step of distributing, to amobile terminal, key information for unlocking or activating a vehicleby the mobile terminal transmitting a predetermined transmission signalto the vehicle, wherein, in the distributing of the key information, theinformation processing device is further configured to execute the stepsof: determining whether or not an authentication key acquisition requestor an authentication key arrangement request is a regular authenticationkey acquisition request or a regular authentication key arrangementrequest according to reception of an authentication key acquisitionrequest from the mobile terminal or an authentication key arrangementrequest from a server, receiving an authentication key arrangementrequest to the mobile terminal related to a predetermined service ofusing the vehicle from a plurality of companies, each of the companiesprovides the predetermined service of using the vehicle, and specifyinga specification of the authentication key to be issued and issues anauthentication key corresponding to the specified specification when thecondition determination unit determines that the authentication keyacquisition request or the authentication key arrangement request is theregular one.